City of Rochelle holds groundbreaking for expansion of Rochelle Intermodal Transload Center

The City of Rochelle held a groundbreaking for the expansion of its Rochelle Intermodal Transload Center on Thursday, Aug. 14.

The RITC, at 1851 S. Steward Road, opened in 2020 as a joint effort between the city and the Greater Rochelle Economic Development Corporation to provide industries of all sizes with direct rail access.

To date, the facility has transloaded 1,000 railcars and has served as a staging area for hundreds of shipping containers used by 12 customers. Increased demand in the area for rail-to-truck transloading and third-party logistics brought about the $4.8 million expansion, which will be 80% funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The event was attended by city officials and staff, economic development personnel, state officials and representatives from the railroad and trucking industries. Speakers at the event were City Economic Development Director Tom Demmer, Mayor John Bearrows, City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh, City Engineer and Railroad Director Sam Tesreau, Illinois Secretary of Transportation Gia Biagi, and the Burlington Junction Railway’s Peter Hoth.

Demmer said the city-owned railroad is unique and offers opportunities for economic development by local businesses and the chance to attract new businesses. He called the RITC expansion “a great opportunity” for the city, Ogle County and the region and thanked the state for its support of the project.

Bearrows said the project will have “a significant impact” on Rochelle and local and regional businesses. He thanked IDOT and GREDCO for their support on the project, which he said took many hands to bring to fruition.

The RITC came about following the closure of Global III intermodal in 2019. After that, the city began work to open its own facility to serve local and regional businesses. Bearrows thanked former City Economic Development Director Jason Anderson, Fiegenschuh, the city council and city staff for their work and support.

“I stand here today filled with gratitude and pride as we celebrate what we’ve overcome together,” Bearrows said. “Numerous individuals played crucial goals in bringing this project to fruition. As we break ground today, we’re not just creating an international facility. We’re laying the groundwork for new opportunities, growth and prosperity for Rochelle. This facility will serve as a vital link for local businesses, helping them thrive in an ever-changing global economy.”

Biagi reiterated the state’s support for infrastructure projects like the RITC that serve local municipalities and businesses.

“It’s wonderful to be here at this incredible facility,” Biagi said. “So much hard work has gone into the investments that preceded this and getting to this point. We have the money and willpower and we’re all pulling on the same rope in the same direction and we’re going to continue to get great infrastructure investments done in this region and the state.”

Fiegenschuh called the RITC “a truly historic partnership” between the city, state, GREDCO and trucking and rail representatives. The RITC and the City of Rochelle Railroad help to keep Rochelle competitive in today’s economy, he said.

IDOT’s support of the project was vital, the city manager said.

“I’m pleased to highlight our strong relationship with IDOT,” Fiegenschuh said. “This kind of commitment is absolutely vital to the success of the RITC and our private sector partners. Our partnership with IDOT is broad, deep and essential to Rochelle’s future. On behalf of our community, I want to thank Gov. JB Pritzker, his staff and the entire IDOT team for their vision, investment and continued support of Rochelle and our economic growth.”

The city’s railroad is operated by the Burlington Junction Railway and has been for the past 19 years. Hoth thanked the city for its partnership and called transloading “a vital part” of growing economies and railroads.

“Not every industry can be directly rail served,” Hoth said. “Here we can serve people that are a quarter mile away or 50 miles or more away and give them access to our national rail network and increase what they can do. We’re proud to invest in Rochelle and our services here and look forward to doing that for a long time.”

Closing remarks at the event were made by Tesreau, who recently took on the added responsibility of serving as the city’s railroad director. He thanked everyone who has worked on the project, including IDOT and Fehr Graham, the project’s engineering consultant.

“Since late last year, this has been a whirlwind,” Tesreau said. “But today we’ve set yet another project in motion. It’s what we do as transportation and engineering professionals. We make it happen. Let’s savor this success today and move on to the next challenge ahead of us. Now the boots on the ground and moving of dirt begins, to see this project go from plans to reality. Let’s dig in and move some Earth.”