Lakeland Local

The CSX Project is Dead Like Dracula

Posted by Chuck Welch on May 3, 2008 8:20 AM | Permalink   | Comments (3)

1896635764

I wrote this over a year ago:

I know this is a complicated story. It ties in the Heartland Parkway, the CSX Hub, and the barely mentioned Central Florida Commuter Rail. We're just getting started.

Stay tuned.

Well, we've reached the cliffhanger at the end of season one. Will the project rise from the dead? If there is no need to move Taft will CSX eat the Winter Haven land purchase? Or will CSX finally admit they just want a modern facility that needs fewer employees and they hoped someone else would pay for it? Will our politicians realize that commuter rail is a state project, not a city project? Will DOT put together an open and fair study into the transportation problem? Will DOT officials learn that secret deals with private companies is not the way to run government? Will Orlando officials learn that working with their neighbors is a better method than playing sprawling bully ala Jabba the Hutt?

Just know that there is no "dead" when it comes to projects such as this one. There has been too much money spent, too many careers attached to completing the project, too many public relations efforts to sway the citizens, to let this project simply die today.

But season one is over, and for now, the money sucking vampire is in the ground. No matter which side of the project you're on, you have a handful of people to thank for that.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does. - Margaret Mead

I hope that small group of people woke up this morning rested with a sense of satisfaction. On Monday, the work starts anew. After seeing what just a few could do, maybe more townspeople will feel emboldened to join the fight.