OAKLAND, Calif. — Union Pacific has joined with the maritime industry in expressing concerns over the proposed location of a new ballpark for the Oakland Athletics, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The ballpark would be built at the current site of the Charles P. Howard Terminal, a container facility on Oakland’s Inner Harbor. One side of the site near Jack London Square would be bounded by Union Pacific tracks used by Amtrak trains as well as UP freight traffic, and UP says the location raises “significant issues” related to railroad safety. It wants the rail line fenced off and overhead walkways built to keep spectators from crossing the tracks.
Maritime officials, meanwhile, question the safety of the adjacent to the Inner Harbor’s turning basin, where bar pilots turn an average of 25 ships a week after loading and unloading cargo at nearby terminals. The pilots are concerned the stadium lights might interfere with their night vision, and about small-craft traffic generated by baseball fans, as has been the case at the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark on San Francisco Bay’s McCovey Cove. That area sees little maritime traffic, unlike the Oakland site.