New Intermodal Rail Container Yard Will be Huge

(Regina LeaderPost – Veronica Rhodes)

The planned Canadian Pacific intermodal facility (IMF) could be bringing national distribution centres to Regina, the size of which the Queen City has never seen.

“This will be an area with extremely large warehouses. Think of the biggest warehouse you know and multiply by a factor of two, three or four and you get a sense of the scale of these,” Jeff Lehman, a principal with MKI, an independent consulting firm contracted to prepare a concept plan and cost analysis for the IMF, said Wednesday. “Some of these are one million square feet so it’s a type of land use that isn’t in Regina yet – a very, very large warehouse.”

Lehman explained that intermodal facilities are central to distribution networks, particularly for retailers who will send out goods to their stores across the country. The IMF is to be built west of the city and will replace the current CP yards in downtown Regina.

The estimated $93-million project has already received $27 million in funding from the federal government and will also result in the creation of an interchange at Lewvan Drive and the Trans-Canada Highway.

Mayor Pat Fiacco explained the IMF is basically an inland port, allowing retailers to be able to move product by air, road and rail. Regina is the ideal location due to its central position in the country.

“This is about the creation of not hundreds of jobs but literally thousands of jobs over the next few years. That’s not just including the construction portion of it, this is ongoing jobs,” said Fiacco.

Lehman said each warehouse could be located on roughly 50 hectares of land by the IMF, but won’t match the size of such facilities seen in Chicago and Calgary. Read the complete article.