Fed Money Speeds Tranformation of Regional Transportation

inToledo  |  07/10/2009 7:00 am

There is a lot of money flowing into northwest Ohio from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Just for transportation projects, more than $97.4 million has been directed to fund 31 new projects and programs that will impact Lucas and Wood counties. So does this mean that we are dreaming up big new plans for our communities? Are we all going to get jet packs? Well, no jet packs. But we are getting a little closer to a sophisticated intermodal system, state of the art port facilities, and a new industry in freight movement and logistics.

Planning agencies in the area - including the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, the University of Toledo, Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), railway groups, labor, economic development, and other business interests - maintain a long list of community needs. The ARRA money, while it is a windfall, is being spent where we had already planned for it to go. But there is plenty of good news: we are able to push ahead now with some projects that might not have happened for many years. These projects will employ people as they are built, will employ people when they are completed, and, in several instances, should attract new development. The ARRA funding is a great chance for our region not just to fix potholes, but to make smart transportation investments that will pay off. As the ARRA money comes in, it is helping to push forward plans to tie the region's transportation systems into a well-integrated intermodal system.

What is Intermodal?
The different freight transportation modes are principally trucks, planes, railroads, and ships. Northwest Ohio is particularly rich in modes of transportation: we are at the crossroads of transcontinental highways, a node in the nation's freight train systems, with an important seaport, and an airport that is well established in the freight industry. While we have all the modes, we can greatly benefit by increasing the efficiency of the transfer of goods in our intermodal facilities. An intermodal facility is a site where goods change modes - from a ship to a train, or from a plane to a truck. An intermodal facility has equipment to lift and move goods, to store goods, and to accommodate the traffic the facility generates.

Why is an Intermodal Facility Good for Business?
Where goods change modes, value is added. Think of the idea of a trading post: from the days of the Roman Empire, to settling the American west, a trading post has always been a center of commerce and opportunity. There is work to be had in the logistics of handling and forwarding freight. Then, there is also opportunity for business when goods are stopped and transferred. Most modern intermodal facilities include room for these auxiliary industries that can develop out of freight transfer. One example is value-added warehousing: the assembly or kitting of goods. A warehouse near an auto plant may assemble all the parts needs for the interior of a particular vehicle - the right color seats, the requested sound system, the right steering wheel - and re-ship to the auto plant. A facility near an airport could sort electronic gear and package for delivery by truck.

Moving Grain and Containers at the Port
At the Port of Toledo, ARRA funds are directed to new conveying equipment and storage that will improve the port's long-established business of moving grain and other bulk materials. The new equipment is a transfer system that will facilitate the movement of bulk products between rail, truck and ships. Another investment is a new mobile harbor crane will move materials in up to 40 swings an hour, and also can move 20 to 35 containers per hour. The efficient movement of standard size shipping containers between trains and ships is critical to the success of a seaport intermodal facility. The development of the new facilities will be sourced locally and include site preparation, construction, and installation of mechanical and electrical systems. When complete and with new equipment installed, the increased volume at the port means new jobs for skilled longshoremen and additional labor for associated operations.

Making Room for Rail
Just as airlines have hubs where passengers are funneled in, then re-sorted to their destinations, railways have hubs where rail cars and containers are re-sorted and new trains are sent on their way. CSX is making a large investment in a rail hub near North Baltimore in southern Wood County. Construction is underway and if it remains on schedule, the facility should be operational by the end of 2010, creating 50 to 75 jobs on the site. The North Baltimore facility is an important "node" in an ambitious project to dramatically increase capacity on rail lines across the country. CSX gathers goods onto trains from port along the East Coast, from North Carolina to Baltimore, and brings them to the Midwest. Their plan for a National Gateway is to make all the rail lines accessible for double stacks of shipping containers. The entire project will involve expanding tunnels, moving utility lines, and raising bridges in several states.

In Toledo, the Airline Yard is another intermodal facility under construction. Despite the name, Toledo's Airline Yard is not at the airport, but is a rail/truck facility that will be expanded in an existing site near Fearing Boulevard, just east of the University of Toledo, Scott Park Campus. At that site, Norfolk Southern's main east-west rail line meets the line heading to Detroit. Rail and road improvements there will double the capacity of the yard, and allow operators to offload from trains and on to trucks without blocking the main rail tracks and impeding train movement. According to an economic impact study performed by the University of Toledo and the University of Tennessee, the improvements at the yard and anticipated redevelopment in the area are projected to lead to creation of nearly 900 new jobs, more than $25 million in new income, and $27 million in industrial development. The yard itself will create 50 new jobs.

What Does the Future Hold?
In the next five to ten years, our local investment should pay off with a significantly improved transportation infrastructure. Highways through Toledo and the region are being renovated for safety and efficiency and new intermodal facilities will be completed. When the economy rebounds, we will be well positioned to capitalize on those investments. Even with top-notch facilities, our success as an intermodal hub will still rely on our skill, education, and the ability of the people of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan to adapt to a new global economy.

For More Information See:
http://www.tmacog.org
http://www.recovery.gov
http://recovery.ohio.gov
http://www.michigan.gov/recovery