UP Railroad Ponders Move

This will create substantial development opportunities, not only at TransPort, but also around Denver. Steve Schuck, of Colorado Springs, says his company would like to redevelop acres of rail yards around Denver that no longer would be needed.

Michael F. Kelly, regional VP of Union Pacific, says in a letter of intent to the Schuck Corp., that the railroad "will want to establish facilities in the area of the Front Range Airport and specifically will develop with The Schuck Corp. an integrated multi-modal transportation facility on the property." TransPort is located contiguous to Front Range Airport and has through-the-fence agreements with the airport.

Kelly, in his letter, says he "anticipates that pressure for change in the Platte River Valley (in and near downtown Denver) and the need public agencies may have for rail properties will require the railroad to move its facilities." Kelly notes the necessity of moving its trains, to the eastern plains bypassing Denver.

"This is great news," says Schuck, chairman of his namesake company. "We have been discussing with Union Pacific a 750-acre site at TransPort to accommodate the integration of Union Pacific's various operating units. Union Pacific's move to TransPort will begin what will be a major migration of businesses to this now state-of-the-art logistical center offering rail, air and highway services. Colorado's Department of Transportation is advocating the relocation of rail facilities from the downtown area so that congestion and pollution are reduced and high value real estate is converted to more valuable uses, producing much higher tax revenues. Everyone wins. We have a strategic location since TransPort is directly in the path of the Colorado Department of Transportation's rail relocation project."

TransPort is adjacent to Interstate 70, providing air, rail and road transportation capabilities to its occupants. Schuck has long called for collaborations between DIA and Front Range Airport in an effort to best serve cargo carriers and their customers.

Schuck compared Transport to Ross Perot's Alliance Intermodal Center in Fort Worth, TX. "That 15,000-acre air/rail/highway project, begun in 1988, now has more than 100 companies offering 20,000 jobs, providing more than $40 million annually in tax revenues."