BNSF launches eminent-domain requests for intermodal facility in Weld County

WELD COUNTY — BNSF Railway Co. is petitioning authorities in Weld County for eminent-domain powers to take over properties near its Hudson logistics center for a new intermodal facility.

The Forth Worth, Texas-based railway submitted 10 separate requests in Weld County District Court last week, seeking to acquire land upon which to build the facility near BNSF’s existing logistics center.

BNSF first announced the logistics-center project in 2011 and has steadily expanded the footprint of the development in the past decade. The logistics center is meant to provide easy access to rail for industrial users, while the intermodal facility is meant to give users a place to transfer products from train to trucks before moving it to areas of the Front Range where building a dedicated rail yard would be difficult or impossible.

It said it has already agreed to acquire most of the land it wishes to use for the intermodal site through private negotiations and is making eminent-domain requests because it was unable to reach terms with the owners of the remaining parcels of land it wishes to build on.

BNSF’s pleadings describe plans to build a facility that would allow the company to move cargo from its trains to trucks that can then deliver the cargo into the Denver area. It would be on the east side of Interstate 76 between Hudson and Lochbouie, or approximately 10 miles directly north of Denver International Airport.

Maps and legal descriptions of the properties that BNSF intends to acquire are not publicly available through the Colorado courts system database, and a spokesperson for the railway declined to provide that information to BizWest.

BizWest was unable to determine the exact borders of land that BNSF is trying to acquire because several property owners who received eminent-domain notices have multiple parcels in the area of the planned intermodal facility. BNSF acquired almost 1,500 acres of land east of Hudson in late 2019 for $15.22 million.

In a statement, BNSF said it is in discussions with local and state officials to also build an interchange at I-76 and Weld County Road 8 to handle new road traffic.

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