Aug. 29—OSKALOOSA — A proposed rail transload facility at the Oskaloosa Innovation Park could mean almost $32 million in economic benefit to the local economy.
That's the finding of a two-year study on the feasibility of the project, conducted by the Mahaska Chamber and Development Group, Mahaska County and the City of Oskaloosa.
Scott Port, a team leader with the engineering firm McClure, and Jake Dean, a logistics manager for Loup Logistics, presented the findings at a community meeting Wednesday morning at the Environmental Learning Center. More than three dozen people attended.
The transload facility would move freight between trucks and trains, so shipments that would have been done all by truck could then be done, at least in part, by rail. That would save local businesses money on shipping. Dean explained that shipping by rail is cheaper and better for the environment than by shipping by truck. One rail boxcar is equal to four trucks.
"We can move one ton of freight 500 miles off of one gallon of fuel."
Port said the cost would be about $3.6 million to build the rail and access road into the transload facility. In return, it would create an estimated $31.8 million in economic benefit for the Oskaloosa area.
He estimated the project would take up to three years from start to finish, and would become profitable in five years.
Most of the infrastructure to make the facility possible is already in place. It would sit next to Iowa Highway 23 and a Union Pacific spur line; the SE Connector Road, which is in the design stage, will connect U.S. Highway 163 with Highway 23 nearby.
Dean said there is also opportunity for the transload facility.
Transload facilities in Ottumwa are limited primarily to agricultural and liquid commodities, and are on rail lines that don't have the reach of Union Pacific, Dean said. A facility in Des Moines is geared primarily for servicing the metro area, not extended surrounding area.
That leaves Oskaloosa ideally situated to fill in the gap, Dean said. That would hold appeal not just to Oskaloosa businesses, but businesses in the surrounding area.
"That's where the value of Oskaloosa being located in between here, but different than your closes transload locations too," Dean said. "So the benefit of that is you're able to land your product a lot closer than Des Moines or even Cedar Rapids or Iowa City, creating that unique value for your communities and what could be brought through this location."
"Once that infrastructure is there, that's a lifelong asset," Dean said. "And what I love about this project is that when you're putting something in, you can be building something that's around for decades or centuries to come."