LOGISTICS CORRIDORS\\\ >> 20


case at KC SmartP o rt,


says Chris Gutierrez, president of the nonprofit economic development group. After all, Kansas City


already straddles two states, so cooperation among multiple agencies and private-sector stakeholders in the supply chain is inevitable, if not obvious. Gutierrez


points to a


“supportive real estate community and local government entities” that work


together to create


opportunities for companies that need continually expanding logistics corridors. Kansas City already boasts 1


five Class rail lines that


intersect where four of the nation’s largest interstates meet


around the country’s


largest navigable inland waterway. From the ground up, Gutierrez says, Kansas City International Airport moves more air cargo each year than any other like it in a six-state region. “We


approach


take a regional to


our logistics


corridor,” he says. “We are a consistent region that looks at transportation infrastructure and business needs.” E-commerce, of course,


is helping drive that train, too. Gutierrez cites 2018’s arrival of Overstock.com, which opened a 500,000- sq. ft. facility and Turn 5, an


NWSA is in the early stages of exploring inland rail hubs. (NWSA photo.)


alone have been staggering, and


difficult to aggregate,


execs nevertheless decry the lack of federal infrastructure financing. Some lawmakers do, too. “It’s time for the federal


government to step up, step back in and become


needed THUD, as in the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development’s new appropriations. Among those: $292.7 million


for US coastal port grants through the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration as part of its Port Infrastructure Development Program; and $255 million in grant money for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements


(CRISI)


program. On March 11, the Trump


A train chugs through Kansas City. (KC SmartPort photo.)


e-tailer that opened 355,000 square


feet. Along with


the automotive sector, the market saw 10 freight-based companies invest nearly $100 million last year, he says. “This helps with the speed


to market for companies considering the Kansas City region,” Gutierrez says. “Executives have a short


a better partner,” US Rep. Peter


DeFazio (D-OR) was


quoted as telling an American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) conference February 27 in Washington, DC. The threat of a second


government shutdown after the 35-day partial closure in


Administration unveiled its FY 2020 budget request, which included $1 billion for BUILD, or Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, as well as $2 billion for Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grants. “The INFRA program makes


awards to large projects that relieve congestion and mitigate bottlenecks on the Nation’s strategic freight networks, including interstates, freight


rail, and


ports,” the White House’s budget summary says. While ASSHTO lauds


the feds’ aims for port infrastructure, with grants going to the nation’s top


A model rendering of GPA’s Mason MegaRail where Phase I is expected to open this year with completion set for next year. (GPA rendering.)


decision time, time to pick a location, and we’ve got to all be on the same page to move that speed to decision as fast as the companies want.” Nationwide, C-suiters


in these ever more robust logistics corridors are all on the same page when it comes to the grease that turns the infrastructure wheel: money, a lot of it, from federal and private-sector sources.


Feds need to step up


Although private-investment dollars in the last year or so


Issue 3 2019 - FBJNA


“Longer, more cost-effective trains incentivize NS and CSX to provide direct, expedited rail service to the Mid-American Arc.” -- Griff Lynch, GPA.


February actually contributed to an increase in funds that will benefit ports,


railways,


and highways came with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019. Signed into law on 14,


February with the so-called


“minibus funding agreement” landed


a much-


15 ports ranked by 2016 volumes, the organization still sees $66 billion needed over the next decade. Meanwhile, says NWSA’s


Wolfe, “We also track and support efforts to create a more cohesive national transportation policy. We believe more work is necessary to ensure our national freight policy and programs truly reflect multimodal nature


the of our


freight system.” Likewise, at Kansas City,


regional infrastructure planners and Kansas and Missouri state transportation agencies,


along with KC


SmartPort, “continuously discuss the state of our infrastructure and the climate in D.C. on future funding,” Gutierrez says. The new White House fiscal


blueprint appears to address not just logistics corridors’ show-me-the-money


issue,


but the notion that more federal dollars will “spur additional investment by our


investment of $1.1 billion,” the Maritime Professional report also says. Port of Houston secured more than $30 million of


21 The Port of Los Angeles


poured $500 million over the last decade in railway- roadway grade separations and rail-system projects


to


reduce truck trips and delays and to optimize cargo flows, says Kerry Cartwright, the port’s Director of Goods Movement. Around the Jacksonville


Port Authority, Florida’s DOT has spent $1.5 billion to improve highways, overpasses, and other roadway infrastructure over the last five years. “Jacksonville


has done an excellent job of


Aerial view of the Port of Long Beach (Port of Long Beach photo.)


federal and state funding toward such projects aimed at eliminating rail bottlenecks improving access to general cargo terminals and


“We are a consistent region that


looks at transportation infrastructure and business needs.”


-- Chris Gutierrez, KC SmartPort.


State and local partners.” That’s already happening,


to wit: BNSF customers have invested $7.7 billion in 2017 at the railway’s 13 Certified Sites in its “Premier Parks, Sites, and Transload Program, reports Maritime Professional in February. NS “helped 75 companies


in locating or expanding in 17 states, representing an


expanding road access to the Bayport Container Terminal. Port


of Long Beach’s


$4 billion modernization project, which Cordero calls the “largest program of its kind at any seaport in the nation.” “We’re upgrading our terminals, rail system, and roads to ensure we remain competitive in the 21st century,” he says.


staying ahead of the growth curve with road projects to ensure little or no congestion on its roadways for both commercial truck traffic


and area residential traffic,” JAXPORT CCO Kristen DeMarco says. Port of LA’s Cartwright


seems to sum things up: “Given public


the roadway scarcity of


funds for major improvements


and the lengthy timeframe required for development and implementation, other types of transportation improvements, such as on- dock intermodal railyards, are crucial to ensure the overall economic vitality of the state and the nation.”


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