Four land purchases over the last year in southeast Mesa suggest Project PIRATE – The Pecos Industrial Rail Access and Train Extension – rail spur may be progressing.
PIRATE would connect industrial centers in far east Mesa with an existing Union Pacific line along Rittenhouse Road.
Union Pacific paid $14.7M for 41 acres near Pecos and Ellsworth roads last month. In May, the railroad bought six acres near Pecos and Hawes.
Late last year, Union Pacific bought approximately 30 acres in the area of Pecos and Sossaman roads.
The rail company already had large holdings between Pecos and Rittenhouse.
One potential beneficiary of the rail spur, should it be built, would be CMC Mill. The company decided to build a second $300M facility in the area, partly because of plans for Project PIRATE.
Fujifilm, which completed an expansion to its Mesa operations earlier this year, also lies along the potential service route.
Land acquisitions and other necessities for the project have run into difficulties due to the area’s boom in popularity for new developments. The Gateway Grand industrial development initially blocked access to the line before the owners redesigned the site plan to accommodate it.
Neither Union Pacific nor CMC Steel officials are commenting, so the actual status of the plan remains unclear. Shortly after purchasing the land site near Pecos and Ellsworth, Union Pacific sold the property to CMC for $200K less than it paid. (Source)
