Photo by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Norfolk Southern's intermodal rail yard facility is planned to be built on this property near Cove Hollow Road in Elliston.

It's official.

The commonwealth announced Tuesday it is backing Norfolk Southern's plan to build an intermodal rail yard in Elliston. Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer called it "a major announcement for the commonwealth and the greater Roanoke area and, frankly, for the entire United States of America."

Homer said he hopes the yard will be operating in about two years. NS spokesman Robin Chapman said the schedule hasn't been set yet.

An intermodal rail yard transfers trailer-sized containers between trucks and rail cars. This intermodal facility will be part of the Heartland Corridor, a $249 million project that aims to move doubled-stacked freight containers between Columbus, Ohio, and Norfolk faster and more efficiently.

Homer's announcement ended a process that began its public phase in May 2006, when Gov. Tim Kaine and NS officials announced that the freight terminal would be built near Roanoke. The site the company had settled on then is the site that was confirmed Tuesday.

"This is indeed a bright day for the Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia," Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, said at the announcement. Goodlatte, who was instrumental in getting some of the initial federal funding for the Heartland Corridor, agreed with Homer's assertions that the project will take trucks off roads, save fuel and reduce pollution. But those are big-picture benefits.

"The No. 1 benefit of this will be to the people of this region who will benefit from the creation of many new jobs," Goodlatte said.

Homer said the project will bring "nearly 3,000 jobs."

Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said, "I believe it is a lot more than 3,000 jobs if you look out 30 years, but those are the ones you can pretty much guarantee."

A state study says the yard itself will employ about a dozen people. Businesses attracted by the rail yard could generate anywhere from 740 to 2,900 jobs in a nine-county, five-city area from Lynchburg to Radford, and from Franklin County to Monroe County, W.Va., according to the study.

The state will spend about $32 million on the 65-acre Elliston site and an access road, according to figures Homer quoted -- though he said costs are likely to rise. The state will spend another $9.75 million to increase tunnel clearances to accommodate double-stacked containers. A related project to relocate rail lines in Tidewater will cost another $68 million.

The state funded a review of 10 sites -- the list was provided by Norfolk Southern -- and ultimately agreed with the company that Elliston was the best site.

The state also paid NS more than $200,000 to conduct detailed engineering studies of Elliston and two other sites the company had rejected before choosing Elliston.

"What they have concluded as professionals and as smart people who know how to make things happen," Homer said of the reviewers, "is that the Elliston site is the only site that functions properly in this region."

The Elliston site has drawn vocal opposition from the community's residents and from the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, which has passed three resolutions against using the Elliston site, saying it conflicts with county zoning and with the county's comprehensive plan. But federal law exempts railroads from local zoning, and it allows them to condemn property.

That may not be necessary in this case. The only significant support for the project that's come from Elliston was a petition from nine of 10 landowners saying they are not opposed to the project so long as they are fairly compensated.

Pierce said the state plans two things to mitigate local concerns -- moving Cove Hollow Road and creating the new Ironto Connector.

"This is a new road that will provide a direct connection into the intermodal site," Homer said. "What that means is that if you are a resident of this area are that trucks that will be accessing this site will be able to get directly off the interstate on this brand new road that will not intersect with local traffic."

In fact, the connector may be an expansion of North Fork Road, which would not separate trucks from local traffic. It would give trucks an opportunity to avoid U.S. 460.

Moving Cove Hollow Road has nothing to do with locals' concerns. The road splits the site, so the yard can't be built unless it is moved and a new bridge constructed.

Griffith and Goodlatte were the only elected officials at Tuesday's announcement. Neither of them represents Elliston.

Gary Creed represents Elliston on the board of supervisors. He doesn't seem to think the story is finished.

"I feel like there will be actions coming shortly," Creed said. "We've put them on notice as to what we're going to file on. It has to do with the Constitution. They can't do what they're doing."