The Project
North Charleston Rail Intermodal and
Community Redevelopment Project
The City of North Charleston recently reached an agreement with Shipyard Creek Associates, LLC, and CSX Transportation, Inc. that would make this intermodal facility and rail reconfiguration - consolidation a reality. This public-private partnership plans to implement the North Charleston Rail Intermodal and Community Redevelopment Project (the Project), a three phased initiative that includes a new intermodal facility on the Macalloy site, reconfiguration of CSX’s rail lines in the area, and reconnection of local communities.
The intermodal facility and rail reconfiguration is the necessary first step in the larger redevelopment scheme. The Project will help improve regional and local connectivity and mobility, and address problems created by existing rail congestion and anticipated rail and truck traffic due to port expansion. Local pedestrian and bicycle enhancements (perhaps even a mass transit system) and network improvements will be tied to larger transportation related investments. Improvements to the efficiency of the rail network will also decrease vehicle miles traveled (VMT), improve the region’s economic competitiveness, promote sustainability, and create new jobs for both current and future residents in the region.
The centerpiece and first phase of the project is a new “green” rail intermodal facility, including enhancements to CSX’s Cooper Yard (which has been operated as a rail yard for over 100 years) and access connections needed to support the facility. This new facility will be built on the Macalloy Brownfield site and Cooper Yard, which are adjacent to the existing Cooper Yard and the new Navy Terminal under construction by the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA).
These areas are currently zoned as “heavy industrial” and lie in the current Port Overlay District. These facilities will require a reconfiguration of CSX’s existing rail network that consolidates traffic on the CSX A-Line corridor, including access from new connection tracks to the south, from the north end of Cooper Yard back to the A-Line, and to the SCSPA’s Veterans Terminal and the Clemson Wind Turbine Research Facility.
In Phases 2 and 3 of the project, CSX will rehabilitate and reopen a connection track between the S-Line and the North Charleston Terminal Company (NCTC), as well as upgrade the NCTC between the new connection point and a connection with Norfolk Southern to the north. These improvements will enable CSX to abandon 3.2 miles of the S-Line between Viaduct Road just north of Cooper yard to the Norfolk Southern rail line just south of I-26, allowing for the reconnection of the neighborhoods of Park Circle, Olde North Charleston, Horizon Village, the Noisette Development, and Chicora-Cherokee. CSX plans to donate the right-of-way to the City of North Charleston for public use through the “rails to trails” program.