BNSF/Kansas partnership spurs key new intermodal terminal
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefThe Kansas Department ofTransportation announced Oct. 18 that an agreement for a $35 million grant to BNSF from the state’s Rail Assistance Program has been finalized. BNSF announced simultaneously that it has selected T.J. Lambrecht Construction and Walsh Construction to build a new, 443-acre intermodal facility southwest of Kansas City in Edgerton.
BNSF said it intends to begin construction in 2011. The project will generate an estimated construction 660 jobs.
The $35- million grant will be repaid from the state utilities sales tax generated on the intermodal facility and a separate logistics park development.
“The rail grant not only helps get this project under way now, it supports a long-term investment that will create about 8,700 jobs at full buildout and have huge economic returns for the state," said Kansas Transportation Secretary Deb Miller.
”The Kansas City market has developed into one of the most important freight transportation hubs in the Midwest and the nation,” said BNSF Chairman, President, and CEO Matthew K. Rose. “BNSF’’s new intermodal facility will help the region’s economy grow in a more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly way by expanding this market’s capacity to shift even more freight traffic from an all-highway move to rail."
The facility will feature wide-span electric cranes that produce zero emissions on-site and automatic gate systems to speed up the movement of entering and departing traffic. The facility will also incorporate a 60-acre conservation corridor for water quality benefits to the area.
