John Boyle
Sun, 14 Nov 2004 12:25:32 -0800
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13360239&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id= 17782&rfi=6 Twenty-five miles of railroad track run from Chadds Ford to West Nottingham, about a mile south of and roughly parallel to the Route 1 corridor. Once part of a Philadelphia-to-Baltimore route, the tracks -- known as the Octoraro Railway -- were built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, bought by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority in 1972 and leased to at least three rail operators over the past decade. Advertisement Seeking to divest itself of surplus property, liability and maintenance costs, the financially squeezed SEPTA is expected to sell the railroad right-of-way at its monthly board meeting on Thursday. For members of the Chester County Planning Commission, many of whom were not aware of SEPTA's plans, news of the upcoming sale led to concerns about the railway's future use. "One concern we have ... is that maintaining freight operations here is very important," said transportation analyst Lee Whitmore. "Certainly its best function right now is freight." The railway, which passes through Kennett Square, Avondale, West Grove and Oxford, still links businesses in southern Chester County to rail lines through Delaware County. Trains have been shipping vegetable oil and kernel corn to Herr Foods in Nottingham, grain to Lancaster-based McGeary Grain's Avondale branch and wood to Coastal Lumber in Oxford for more than two decades. Since one train boxcar carries three to four truck trailers' worth of material, Whitmore warned that the loss of rail freight service could worsen traffic congestion on southern Chester County's highways. Whitmore also registered concern that the railway might lose the possibility of public transit. The idea of passenger trains once again running on the Octoraro Railway has been a future, if not immediate, policy recommendation by the Chester County Planning Commission. "If those two options fail, we should try to preserve it for a trail (and) hold on to this right-of-way at all costs," Whitmore said. William Fulton, the commission's executive director, agreed with Whitmore's assessments. He said he'd make the concerns known to the county's two delegates to SEPTA's executive board, former county commissioner Karen Martynick and attorney James Rohn of Conrad, O'Brien, Gellman & Rohn. "Maybe there's some real opportunity for some private investors," Fulton said. "(And) it would be a spectacular trail some day. It would be a shame to lose it, for SEPTA to just get $28,000." Fulton said that, according to SEPTA, two businesses had placed bids on the railway. The highest bid, entered by East Penn Railway, was $350,000. About $322,000 of that amount covers repairs performed on the right-of-way. Commission Chairman George Asimos and member Robert Hankin both noted that the going bid was an extremely inexpensive price for 25 miles of railway. Asimos suggested that the planners request a provision in railway's sale that offers Chester County a "right of reversion" or a "right of first refusal" to buy the land in the event that the winning bidder goes out of business. Obtaining the railroad right-of-way after such a dissolution is extremely difficult, Asimos noted, since all property rights go back to adjacent landowners. To build a trail then would require individual deals with each landowner. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "bike." To subscribe or unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. See also http://bcgp.blogspot.com/ and http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/