- Local experts say now is the time
for Northwest Ohio to capitalize on its geographic location through the
creation of intermodal centers that could lead to thousands of new jobs and
millions of dollars in economic development.
By creating a district to spur creation of intermodal centers, Toledo and
its surrounding areas can take advantage of marketplace conditions in the
transportation and logistics industries to shape Northwest Ohio's economic
future. “We can't just move along at our own pace,” said Richard Martinko,
director of the UT Intermodal Institute. “If we don't expedite, we're going to
lose the opportunity.”
Because of an estimated growth in the next 20 years of 186 percent in the
number of cargo containers shipped to the United States, Martinko said, other
geographic areas such as Toledo will be needed to “pick up the slack” in
handling overflow from the country's coastal ports, which are already
exceeding capacity. Development of intermodal terminals — shipping facilities
designed to handle multiple forms of carriers — could help Northwest Ohio
become a prime destination for cargo entering the United States and shipped
throughout the country, he said.
But for the intermodal business to take off in the region, Martinko said,
the area's government officials, business leaders and residents need to be in
agreement to have sites ready to entice companies to locate here or expand.
Northwest Ohio's geography presents an opportunity because it encompasses
ideal spots for land, air and sea shipping, he said. “We need to take more
advantage of the assets that we have because the opportunity is there,”
Martinko said.
James Hartung, president and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority,
agreed. A specific project in Canada currently in the works could serve as the
catalyst for transforming the region into one of the country's intermodal
centers, he said. The Melford International Terminal Inc. project in Nova
Scotia could allow the transfer of cargo containers from mega-container ships
to trains, which would then travel Canadian National Railway lines to
destinations in Canada and the United States.
The facility, according to a company document, will serve as a transfer
point for containers coming from Asia and the Indian sub-continent that are
shipped to North America via the Suez Canal. Melford is a privately funded
endeavor. Canadian National already has a terminal in Toledo at a facility
known as Lang Yard, but the site is landlocked by Interstate 75 and the
Hoffman Road landfill, Hartung said. Despite having an intermodal facility in
Detroit, he said, Canadian National could look to Toledo because of the
congestion around the Detroit metropolitan area.
Canadian National could use the city as a west terminal to trans-ship goods
to ports throughout the Great Lakes, a process known as short-sea shipping,
because of the amount of cargo Toledo's sea port can handle, Hartung said.
But for Canadian National to develop an intermodal facility in Northwest
Ohio to meet its needs, Hartung said, the infrastructure needs to exist to
maximize the company's ability to move containers inland throughout the United
States. He said Melford Terminal is expected to open in 2011 with the first
phase in the development at full capacity by 2015.
Creating the needed infrastructure to entice Canadian National to develop
an intermodal terminal in Toledo needs to come through a partnership between
government and the private sector, Hartung said. “We want to have the
improvements in place when that first ship comes in,” he said. “We need sites
where we can move in and start to develop.”
Such sites do not exist in the area, Martinko said. Having them could be
the difference when companies looking to develop an intermodal facility select
a site, he said. “We're not the only place in the world that has strategic
geography,” Martinko said.
One local developer believes he has the perfect site for an intermodal
center near Toledo Express Airport. However, a lack of cooperation from the
City of Toledo is preventing the land in question from being utilized, he
said.
Brian McMahon, whose Danberry National Ltd. is a partner in a group that
owns land north of Toledo Express along Airport Highway, said he has been
asking Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner for two years to sign an easement
agreement that would allow water lines to be extended to the property McMahon
said he believes would serve as the perfect location of an intermodal
terminal. With a green light from Finkbeiner, McMahon said, a developer could
be secured “literally overnight” to take advantage of the strategic location
of the airport and the land surrounding it.
“In almost any other community, this property would've been developed years
ago,” he said. “It's been 15 years of one obstacle after another. “Leadership
in any other community would've figured out how to turn this property into
jobs.”
But until McMahon presents an end user for the property, the mayor doesn't
see an immediate need to sign off on the easement, said Brian Schwartz,
Finkbeiner's spokesman. The water deal, he said, is also contingent upon the
city entering into a joint economic development district (JEDD) with Swanton
and Monclova townships. As part of such an agreement, Toledo would provide
infrastructure such as water and sewer lines to designated land within the
townships in exchange for a portion of income tax revenue and net business
profits from developments within the JEDD.
Talks between Toledo and the townships remain ongoing, Schwartz said, but
no deadline has been set on when a JEDD agreement needs to be reached. In
fact, he said, McMahon has not contacted the mayor in more than two years
about the water easement. “He hasn't been particularly aggressive in pressing
the issue with the mayor,” Schwartz said, noting the city was “eager” to enter
into the JEDD with Swanton and Monclova townships.
Alan Mikesell, an attorney hired to represent Monclova Township in economic
development and special projects, said the municipality is excited to enter a
JEDD and help in the efforts to make the region friendly to intermodal
developments. Though government backing is a must for intermodal development
to happen in the region, Hartung said, others need to step up and help in the
effort.
“It's not just government. It's institutional will,” he said. “It's the
businesses that are going to make money that are going to have to invest
money. “You just can't lay it off on the government,” he said. “At some time,
you're going to have to dip into your own pocket and invest in a project you
believe in. “There are too many people out there that want to invest other
people's money.”
From the Toledo Free Press