A CN Rail train (vxla via Flickr under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic Liscence)
By Issey Abraha
Milton residents and its town council want to derail CN’s plan to establish an intermodal terminal in the bedroom community.
The giant rail company intends on announcing Thursday a 400-acre centre that will neighbour residential areas in the town northwest of Toronto.
“We have been aware of what their thoughts are, it will have a negative impact on the Milton community,” Milton mayor Gordon Krantz told Humber News Tuesday.
“We were very successful 14 years ago, hopefully history repeats itself again,” he said.
Krantz said in a prepared statement that the proposal “is contrary to our vision for the Town of Milton.” Nor do CN’s plans conform to existing town zoning or the official plans of either Milton or Halton Region.
The town and the region say they raised their objections with CN but it plans to proceed with the project, claiming that no government can determine whether the project moves forward.
CN proposed a similar project 14 years ago to the province, but it was withdrawn due to major issues with the proposal.
Milton and Halton Region challenged CN plans for a terminal in 2001 citing increased traffic, noise, loss of agricultural land and pollution, among other issues.
Milton residents are concerned that homes were purchased near neighbouring construction sites before knowing about CN’s plans.
The proposed terminal would be built on a 400-acre plot of CN-owned land between Britannia Road and Lower Base Line, a town statement said.
The intermodal centre allows for the transfer of cargo containers between rail cars and trucks to move goods eastward cross the Greater Toronto Area and throughout North America, the statement said.
The town said the facility is about 2,900 metres long and can accommodate four trains per day, seven days a week.
“People purchasing homes are concerned there will be loud noise with two trucks going in and out per hour,” Milton councillor Mike Cluett said.
“There is land available north of the 401, that won’t affect residents, in which the CN rail can operate from,” he said.
CN will announce Thursday its plans for the intermodal terminal.