The U.S. Transportation Commission’s Draft Environmental Assessment votes in favor of the Pecos Industrial Rail Access and Train Extension (PIRATE) proposal, a six-mile east-west freight line between CMC Steel in Far East Mesa and the Union Pacific Phoenix area. rice field. The line of Rittenhouse Street and Sossaman Street.

The report concludes that the impacts of the railway spurs will be “negligible, minor and/or temporary” given the project’s benefits and recommended mitigation measures.

The agency recommends that projects that are determined to have a significant impact on the environment be moved forward, as they require a more extensive evaluation.

While the commission found no significant environmental impacts, it outlined a number of adverse impacts, most notably traffic congestion on the road between Mesa and Queen Creek.

The public and local stakeholders have until 30 June to comment on the results of the draft study before the final environmental assessment is completed. The plan is then considered for final approval or rejection by the Land Transport Board.

The document is a major step towards the creation of the line, which will allow backers to make 30,000 diesel truck trips between Mesa’s burgeoning manufacturing hub and Union Pacific’s freight hub 130 miles away. It claims that the round trip will be reduced.

An environmental assessment said the line could be operational in 2024.

The Union Pacific-funded rail spur will pass through what is now mostly farmland, but will soon be home to several large industrial projects in the development pipeline.

According to Mesa’s Economic Development Authority, freight trains running through this farmland corridor will accelerate Mesa’s transformation, making more of the billions of dollars of new investment companies are pouring into semiconductor manufacturing and other fast-growing industries. May bring many pieces to the mesa.

One of the driving forces behind this new industrial activity is the $40 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company currently under construction in North Phoenix, the largest foreign investment in U.S. history. .

Mayor John Giles said, “When you see semiconductor factories opening in Phoenix and Chandler, the economic impact is definitely being felt in Mesa.” “Supply chains and their ripple effects are big issues.”

“The supply chain needs rail access,” said Mesa Economic Development Director Bill Giaviniak.

In the course of the investigation, Zavziniak’s office has already seen an increase in inquiries from rail operators, with several landowners along the proposed rail line eyeing the feeder line. said.

But there are clouds in any silver lining, and environmental assessments point to slowing traffic at the critical junction between Mesa and Queen Creek as one of the major negative impacts of the railroad.

With the growth of Southeast Mesa and Queen Creek, these roads already handle heavy traffic.

The assessment noted that “few major traffic routes serve Queen Creek south of German Road, resulting in concentration effects on routes such as Ellsworth and German Road.” .

The document adds that road improvements to help that concentration are underway, including extending Signal Butte Road and building State Route 24, which will connect Pinal County’s 202 Ring Road to Ironwood Road.

The new railroad will not only slow traffic, but will also remove at least 115 acres of burrowing owl habitat, adversely affecting four Hohokam-era Ancestral American Indian settlements along the route, a study found. bottom.

Consisting mostly of pottery shards, these sites are considered on the National Register of Historic Places and the evaluation involved memorandums of understanding with the State Historic Preservation Service and descendant tribes on how to mitigate impacts during construction. is recommended to be created.

To protect the owls, this evaluation asked the Arizona Game and Fish Department to survey the project site, place buffers around observed burrows, and remove the inevitable owls during construction. ing.

The project will also adversely affect 0.5 acres of surface water for which the railroad plans to obtain EPA permits and develop mitigation plans. A narrow strip of wetlands and surface water runs along the west side of Sosaman Road and north of the Phoenix District boundary.

A detailed traffic analysis was conducted at the request of the Draft Assessment State, Queen Creek, and modelers compared 2050 traffic patterns with and without rail spurs.

Analysts predicted reduced traffic at nearly all major intersections bordering railroads, despite findings that railroads are likely to replace 30,000 diesel truck trips annually.

These movements mainly involve the movement of recycled steel, rubber and hazardous materials to and from industrial sites such as CMC Steel and FujiFilm.

Traffic slowing by PIRATE will come from the installation of five new grade crossings, which the Board ultimately determined will slow traffic at eight intersections.

The draft evaluation estimates that the car will stop at the intersection for 10 minutes during each run. After the train passed, a “long line” would form at a nearby intersection, “clearing within the first few cycles of the signal operation.”

Union Pacific believes PIRATE will operate trains a maximum of two times per day (one up and one down).

Trains will run at 20 mph and will probably start running at 30 mph.

Thirty-five carriages operate per day, and trains are approximately 2,200 feet long.

Mesa Transportation Director RJ Zeder said he supports the railroad construction and believes the impact on motor vehicle traffic will be negligible.

“I am very relieved both in the short term and the long term. This stimulus will not have a negative impact on the region,” he said.

Increased rail ridership in the Pecos Advanced Manufacturing Zone could increase train lengths to up to 4,500 feet, or 70 cars nearly a mile, according to the draft assessment, a new source of slowdowns. may occur.

“If CMC, Fujifilm or any other future rail customer loads or unloads cargo on connecting tracks outside of pirate passage, trains will block public roads if they are long enough to cross railroad crossings. It is possible,” the document said. .

If future customer facilities are close enough to Ellsworth Road or Chrismon Road, the trains servicing those facilities could block traffic, the assessment said.

“I think what they’re envisioning is the worst-case scenario,” Zeder said. “We asked Union Pacific to operate trains during off-peak hours.”

Mr Zeder said the railroad had also agreed to monitor traffic delays on Ellsworth Road, the busiest thoroughfare in southeast Mesa. If the slowdown reaches a specified threshold, the railroad will start applying for “overpasses” (bridges or underpasses to eliminate railroad crossings) at Ellsworth.

The City of Queen Creek is also eyeing a flyover at Ellsworth, among other traffic mitigation measures.

“Ensuring smooth traffic flow and minimizing disruptions on the north-south highway is of utmost importance to the town of Queen Creek,” said Mohammed Youssef, Queen Creek’s public works director.

Aside from a potential flyover, Youssef said the town is “seeking commitment from Union Pacific Railroad regarding hours of operation, length of line and frequency of use.”

Zeder added that regardless of whether PIRATE is built, Mesa has plans to expand Ellsworth from four to six lanes, which will help reduce congestion on the road in the future.

The Draft Environmental Assessment concludes that the benefits to the local economy from less truck traffic on the roads and improved air quality will mitigate impacts on transportation.

Reducing carbon emissions will also benefit the climate. The study added that hazardous waste currently transported by local roads will be transferred to railroads.

Djavziniak said the city has conducted several economic impact studies on the railroad and the 10-year summary figures are staggering. 21,000 jobs will be created, with $19.7 billion in local impacts, including $4.6 billion in wages and $686 million in state governments. local tax revenue.

The jobs that railroads bring are “high-quality, high-paying jobs,” he said.

Besides, “Kids love trains,” he added.