By Catherine Cuellar, KERA 90.1 Reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-580117.mp3
Lancaster, TX –
Catherine Cuellar, KERA 90.1 Reporter: Drive south on 45 from Dallas to Houston, and you'll see thousands of shipping containers visible from the highway. They're part of the Dallas Logistics Hub. It's an inland port projected to be the nation's biggest cargo processing space. Asian shipments to the Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles and Latin American shipments to the Port of Houston will arrive in Dallas for transfer and distribution along three interstate highways and two transcontinental rail lines. As part of the development, Lancaster Airport is being upgraded to accommodate cargo flights -- [nat sound, helicopter] but today it was used to give elected officials and members of the media helicopter tours of the facility.
Steve Grant, The Allen Group: Over to your left is the intersection of I-20 and I-45. I-20 is part of the NAFTA corridor, a large shipping and trucking route, with 60,000 vehicles a day west bound and 60,000 vehicles a day eastbound at this intersection. [fade helicopter sound]
Cuellar: The Hub will have more than 60 million square feet of distribution, manufacturing, office, and retail space. The project, developed by the California-based Allen Group, has received major incentives from the cities that stand to benefit, including Dallas, according to Mayor Laura Miller.
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller: We've put in a lot of money and infrastructure. We've put in over 30 million dollars in the November 2006 bond program. The potential impact I believe is as much as DFW was for the region 30 years ago.
Cuellar: But Lancaster mayor Joe Tillotson says that projected growth will bring increased demands.
Lancaster Mayor Joe Tillotson: I was talking to some school board people the other day and they were telling me, you keep bringing houses in here and bringing pupils in and it's covering us up. I said good, that's our job is to bring people into this area, and it's your job to educate them. We do have an infrastructure problem. There's no question about that. But I think we can overcome that in the way of roads, water and sewer lines, and that sort of thing. We have the ability to raise money for those things. In order to get them in, we've got to provide services. We're going to do that, certainly.
Cuellar: Ed Oakley was one of four Dallas councilmen delegated to bring the hub to the southern sector. He says the economic benefits far outweigh quality of life concerns about issues like safety and air quality.
Ed Oakley: This is going to happen. The thing is you've got to make it the best product you possibly can and we're working on all aspects of that.
Cuellar: The Dallas Logistics Hub is projected to generate 2.4 Billion dollars in tax revenue for the four cities of Dallas, Lancaster, Wilmer, and Hutchins, and will create at least 40,000 new jobs. By 2035, the economic impact from construction and staffing of facilities is expected to reach 68.85 Billion dollars.
For KERA 90.1, I'm Catherine Cuellar