Move trucks to trains, hope of railroad, county leaders
, Staff Writer
11-30-2009
Pulaski County is lending its support to an effort by Norfolk Southern to get some truck traffic off Interstate 81 and on the nation’s rails instead.
The railroad company is proposing to develop a 2,500-mile Crescent Corridor Intermodal Network that would “provide Virginia and the nation with the most direct intermodal rail route between the Mid-Atlantic and the South.”
In order to support the project, Pulaski County Board of Supervisors has agreed to send a Norfolk Southern-drafted letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood requesting federal funds to support the Crescent Corridor.
The letter points out that congestion on the nation’s highways is not only costing motorists and businesses longer travel times, but also lost productivity, diminished air quality and reduced fuel efficiency standards.
As a result, Norfolk Southern contends diminished mobility is weakening the nation’s ability to compete globally.
“Accidents and traffic delays cost Americans more than $365 billion a year …,” the letter states, pointing out that is $1 billion a day or $1,200 per person.
The railroad company says the gap between freight transportation demand and the ability of the nation’s transportation network to handle it continues to grow.
For example, vehicle miles traveled for commercial trucks more than doubled between 1980 and 2007, while the total lane miles of roadway increased by only 6.8 percent.
The letter states that freight demand is expected to double again by 2035, while the nation’s roadways continue to grow only modestly.
“This crippling trend is increasingly felt throughout the Eastern U.S., especially along parts of Interstate 81 and 85, where over 30 percent of the congestion is attributable to commercial trucks,” the letter states. “Ultimately, the rising demand for freight transportation, coupled with the lack of investment in our nation’s infrastructure, is grid-locking our communities.”
The Crescent Corridor, Norfolk Southern states, will “reduce congestion, mitigate air pollution and fuel consumption, improve community safety ... .”
The letter points out that intermodal rail service along the Crescent Corridor “could divert 1.3 million trucks off of the interstate annually.”
Norfolk Southern contends the annual diversion of 878,000 trucks to rail in the Commonwealth would save almost 35 million gallons of fuel, reduce the cost of lost production due to congestion by about $21 million, avoid $30 million in accident losses and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 385,000 tons.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and the 2007 Virginia General Assembly voted to contribute $40 million to the Crescent project.
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