Sulphur wants railroad spur
Last Modified: Friday, June 15, 2012 1:29 PM
Johnathan Manning // American Press jmanning@americanpress.com
SULPHUR — Sulphur is working to add a railroad spur through the north industrial park, city officials said.
The branch is part of a plan to improve the industrial park, said John Bruce, director of public works.
Planning for the spur has been under way for about four years, Bruce said. The city is working to gain rail access agreements for the branch, which will ultimately connect to the Union Pacific line, he said.
“We’ll then immediately move into the real estate phase and the preliminary design phase and get this long-awaited and much-pursued project under way,” he said.
There is $2.2 million in state capital outlay funds available for the project, which will cost about $3 million, Bruce said. The final cost is not set in stone because it’s unknown what type of environmental issues the project could face, he said.
Once rail access is secured, Sulphur will move forward with real estate negotiations and wetlands and environmental issues, Bruce said.
The north industrial park is near Sulphur’s north city limits off North Beglis Parkway.
“We have an existing tenant that has expressed a desire and a need and a market for rail service,” Bruce said, referring to Brask IEE, a company off Louis Alleman Parkway that deals with heat exchangers.
Mayor Chris Duncan said building the spur “opens the doors for possible other tenants in the future.”
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