Key Contact

Project Story
Manchester Yard is located in the Town of Manchester, Ontario County, and was formerly a bustling railyard operated as part of the Finger Lakes Railway. With connections to the CSX mainline, the county commissioned a study to identify new rail-enabled economic development opportunities in the corridor.
The Ontario County Freight Corridor Development Plan, prepared by Fisher Associates and adopted in 2018, examined opportunities for new rail-oriented, freight-related businesses along the rail corridor within the Town of Manchester, Villages of Manchester, Shortsville, and Clifton Springs, and a small adjoining area in the Town of Farmington. It included, among other elements, a rail corridor suitability and opportunity analysis, conceptual corridor alternatives, and implementation strategies.
The Manchester Yard Redevelopment Plan which is being undertaken by Fisher Associates is an implementation-focused project designed to establish truck and rail connections to major transportation routes and spur rail-enabled development.
The immediate focus of this study is threefold:
1) To prepare a concept level design of the proposed truck access road and freight rail access within Manchester Yard
2) Conduct a Utility Infrastructure Analysis to determine utility capacities, identify constraints, and make recommendations for improvements to utility infrastructure to accommodate future redevelopment efforts
3) Prepare concept-level cost estimates for the proposed access road and utility improvements to assist the County with future implementation grants among other benefits, moving the study from concept to reality.