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CSX And Lakeland Officials Meet, Tour Downtown, Get Stuck Waiting On A Train

Posted Apr 19, 2007 by Billy Townsend

Updated Apr 20, 2007 at 10:39 AM

There’s not too much to report from the big, closed CSX-Lakeland business community/city management meeting. Rick Hood, the CSX official in charge of the Winter Haven rail hub site, was at the meeting, which was held at the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber head Kathleen Munson used diplomatic language in describing the meeting. She said it was helpful and that CSX has agreed to take part in a “task force” aimed at mitigating the impacts of increased train traffic on downtown. Part of that mitigation will likely be a so-called “quiet zone” application for downtown. That’s where certain safety improvements at crossings allow trains to avoid blowing horns. Anne Furr, director of the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority, who also attended, told me this morning that the city plans to hire a consultant to help the LDDA apply for a quiet zone.

No one from the state Department of Transportation attended the meeting. But David May, the former district 1 DOT head who is now a Lakeland businessman, will serve on the task force, Munson said.

Three other things stood out from our conversation.

1) Part of the meeting involved driving around downtown. That drive was disrupted a bit, Munson said, by backed-up vehicle traffic waiting for a train to pass.

2) Winter Haven’s Director of Stratgeic Initiatives Pete Chichetto attended the meeting. City Manager David Greene did not, though his Lakeland counterpart, Doug Thomas, was there. As far as I know, this is the first time government staffers from Winter Haven and Lakeland have spoken to one another about this issue. I am happy to be corrected if I’m in error.

3) Meetings from now on will likely be noticed to the public, Munson said.

Oh, and they had lunch at the Terrace.