Is Rochelle, Illinois About To Experience A Major Economic Blow?

Rochelle has had some sort of rail service since the early 1900s, but that's all about to abruptly end.

Rochelle officials met with Illinois legislators and Union Pacific officials this week about the future of Global III Intermodal Ramp, unfortunately, the meeting didn't go as planned. According to WIFR, the ramp will be closing in two months.

Union Pacific Railroad announced it will be "idling services" for the Global III Intermodal Ramp in Rochelle in early July 2019.

23-News also added, "the city of Rochelle says leaders are "developing a plan to offer an alternative to industries seeking local intermodal services."

One thing is for sure, Rochelle's nickname isn't "Hub City" just for kicks and grins, the railroad service is vital to the town of less than 10,000. Whatever the plan is to keep trains moving through the town needs to be in place sooner than later.

Here is Union Pacific's official statement:

Currently, Chicago is home to six intermodal facilities, five of which are active ramps and one that acts as an equipment depot. Many of our ramps handle a mix of domestic and international business. Operating six facilities with a variety of equipment at each creates complexity for Union Pacific (equipment issues, additional switching), as well as our customers (complex drayage arrangements and vendor management), creating a greater likelihood of supply chain failure. Therefore, we will be idling the Global 3 (G3) Intermodal Ramp in early July, and the Canal Street Container Depot will follow shortly thereafter.

Rochelle already has a known homeless problem, this could certainly play into the future in bigger numbers in the coming months.

JB Love is ½ of  Q98.5's Lil Zim & JB In The Morning, weekday mornings from 5:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.