In 2009 Mr. Hoagland began to promote an intermodal hub for southeast Collin County.  Mr. Hoagland has long time connections with the railroad industry and personally knows investors and government officials that can make such a project happen. 

 

 He brought  his good friends, the principal investors in this project, to his April 6th Nevada Campaign meeting to talk about the hub. "The intermodal facility is my buddy George’s (Elking) idea.”  said Mr. Hoagland.  It may be Mr. Elking's idea, but it has been cultivated and can be made a reality by Mr. Hoagland and all his contacts.

The SaveLakeLavon group is against this hub. The location of this proposed intermodal hub would be serviced by the Lavon Lake Bridge thus making the bridge a regionally significant project.  If the bridge is regionally significant it would then meet the US Army Corps of Engineer's criteria and also make the bridge a more viable project to toll road providers.  None of these are favorable ideas to the locals.

At the April 6th meeting in Nevada, Mr. Hoagland and investor friends said that this intermodal hub was a good way to plan for growth in the area.  The majority of the citizens in attendance did not agree.  (Click for complete April 6th hub meeting notes.)

When Mr. Hoagland first started promoting the hub, he said it would be a public and private partnership.  When he realized citizens did not take well to this "partnership" and the implication that their eminent domain land would end up given to private enterprise, he backed off those statements.  Now he says that the hub will be private investment with the public involvement being the port authority - which is just another way of saying the project IS a public and private partnership.  Mr. Hoagland down-plays the necessary public participation.