HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSX Rail-1994 CSX Rail says it will abandon
15-mile Oviedo track by June
by Darrell Johnson unmaintained for 28 years. tomer, but even the PVC pipe maker's
The track was shut down for emer- manifests have totaled only 60 carloads of
Three major Oviedo-area businesses gency repairs six times for a total of six plastic.
will be affected if the CSX Railroad aban- weeks during 1994. Accord's Bill Weir is pessimistic about
dons 15.75 miles of track by next June, Maintenance is also needed on inter- the company's future if the line closes,
according to a Petition for Exemption sections, switching ties must be replaced even though the railroad has promised to
filed by the company with the Interstate and the entire line would have to beresur- hold off the abandonment until at least
Commerce Commission. faced for operations to continue,the corn- June 1, 1995.
The sections in question stretch from pany said. The cost of necessary renova- "This will either cause us to close or
central Oviedo to the rail's terminus near lions is expected to exceed$861,000. relocate," Weir said. "We're in the PVC
Forsyth Road in Winter Park and from CSX reports that the system carried pipe business where tenths of a percent-
Oviedo to the intersection of SR 434 and only 122 carloads of goods in all of 1993, age make all the difference."
CR 419 in Winter Springs. and a mere 87 carloads were delivered in Wcir expressed disappointment in the
The reason cited in CSX Transporta- the first nine months of 1994. railroad's decision because, he said, the
lion,Inc.'s request for right-of-way aban- With the closing of the Wheeler Fertil- state attempted to reach an agreement
donment is maintenance costs.The north- izer operation in downtown Oviedo,only with users of the track two and a half years
em stretch last underwent a railroad tie three customers remain along the track. ago. The railroad decided not to partici-
maintenance program 15 years ago, and Accord Industries on Forsyth Road in pate, and Accord assumed they wouldn't
ties on the southern span have been Winter Park has been the largest cus- continued on page 14
Page 14 :
CSX Rail abandonment
continued from page 1 active but expenses far exceed its est in taking over the entire line.
Westbrook explainedthat a re- revenues for more than two years. Vice President and General Man-
quest for exemption can be sub- Eighty-seven carloads of goods ager Benjamin Biscan said that,
milted if the line is designated hardly justifies keeping a line ac- considering the current CSX fi-
inactive, meaning it has little or live, he said. nancial picture, that portion of
no traffic.An abandonment peti- At one time Florida Central the system would no longer ap-
tion applies if the railroad spur is Railroad had expressed an inter- peal to them.
The CSX line was once a busy
Seaboard Coast Line local deliv-
ery route that ran from downtown
Orlando to Sanford, snaking
through Winter Park and the
Rollins College campus,out along
Aloma Avenue and onto Oviedo.
It was started in the late 1880s
as the Orlando and Winter Park
' / Railroad, and was a passenger
`3 line that served Rollins College.
Railroad
continued from page 1
Jesup wetlands to the north of the ndstoressellinghlkingandbiCY-
track fro in future development. cling supplies spring up along the
Even plans for the controver- route. Smart restaurateurs set up In Winter Springs...
sial Battle Ridge development in- cappuccino and sandwich shops I-AmoerSprin snTOrey-
cluded an effort at wetlands pro- with outdoor terraces for casual, was A model home interior Pine
tection and a 200-foot easement impromptudining. rator c Dec. 20. Other ordeco-
for a future trail along a former "Why," she asks, "should stayed through 20.
.O day workers
railroad grade. people livein one ofthe most pros- the home through to view.
da
Gennell has studied multi-use perous cities in the state,and have When employees wrived the
trails in other cities such as Seattle to put their bicycles in their cars neahennimployees arri chairs,
and Chicago.Property values tend anddrive45 minutes to fmdaplace next morning and l ablec were
to go up in the vicinity of a trail, to ride?" some
Thealarmsystemwas work-
ing and there was no signet forced
entry.
—A resident on Boxwood Cir.
went to her neighbor's house on
Dec.22 to check it while the own-
ers were away for the holidays.
She noticed a bedroom light on
and entered,finding herself in front
of a man standing near the vanity
table.He told her not to worry,that
be was watching the house for the
residents.
She asked how he got in and he
told her he had a key.She then left,
and saw him depart as well,appar-
ently lockiog the door behind him.
Police arrived and found the
door unlocked and the point of
entry a broken window in the back.
It was undetermined whether any-
thing was missing.
—Santa Claus was stolen from
the front lawn ofa home on Falki rk
Dr.on Dec.23.The holidays just
wouldn'tbethe samewithout news
like that. .
The Voice Page 3
�wuw s Blvd. _ E1 1 /
ter Springs Boulevard illegally; i t"a� k0 s
driving east and making a U-turn 00`l� 111
to hit the connector also would be '� Ei° ': 1 p
illegal.Thermos talkthat Oviedo �A�-.
might provide a traffic officer °. 7
fulltime to prevent the illegal � �!.
moves. Police Chief Dennis - — - �/N/'
Peterson said the city could pro- _ —.� f 1 , B
vide the officer, but he was not — / !/
encouraging as to its effective- — _E p.—4 //�
ness. \ I Regional Shopping Center I/�/_
Also under consideration is to I • __ ���! "a
make the left or southbound turn v1t --+.- ' ` Y C
from Winter Springs Boulevard a !� .a..
so-calledflyover,an overpass tak- d7 t ��
ing the westbound traffic up and ./ a 1i .
over the eastbound lane to enter � /
the mall. Under the current pro •, <'
posal, traffic turning left would
I a // 5 �/�
have to cross the eastbound lane l J 3,. ' -� t//
Another idea would make the ► " JAM ti `� ---/ i
// NnpiuVOffice
whole issue moor. have the con- I //
nector intersect with lire. k ,� ��.
Greeneway,
Boulevard avoiding Winter y ��-`+y °�—/'' - '„/
Springs Boulevard altogether.To ,, ''''t r� �� / j
generate any kind of traffic under N sr” it .-- i I /� wmnau
Nis scheme tolls would have to be s // ki '5,1 / //,
waived,something Oviedo Conn- e7 7 r [ r F� l/ taer0pet as
cil Chairman Tom Hagood, who
also sits on the Turnpike Author- valr- t i ///7� ///
ity, says is not about to happen. �� : ‘ I A e, ,, if
I— w l,- I Sla u Road
The mall developer,Viera Co.,wants to build a connector road from Red Bug Lake Road to Winter
Springs Boulevard
q4 /.1 A 9