NORFOLK: State and federal officials in Virginia broke ground on two major projects aimed at relieving congestion at the state port after delays hit near-unprecedented levels earlier this year.
The projects include a $31 million expansion of the northern intermodal gate complex at the port’s Norfolk International Terminals, as well as the construction of $175.6 million worth of highway linking the terminal to nearby Interstate 564.
The interstate connector is expected to take two years to complete and will remove roughly 740 trucks each day from local streets already congested with motorist traffic. The highway, which will also connect to the nearby Norfolk Naval Station, the largest naval station in the world, will ease access for the roughly 80,000 vehicles commuting to the base daily.
The roadway may also serve as the first leg of a long-anticipated third harbor crossing in Virginia, that would help moderate traffic on the roads, bridges and tunnels connecting the southeastern corner of the state to rest of the country.
Expansion at the port’s north gate, meanwhile, will include construction of a 22-lane semi-automated complex designed to speed the flow of trucks, relieving congestion and speeding up cargo velocity at the port’s largest terminal. That project should be completed by fall of next year, port officials have said.
Construction officially commenced on both projects Wednesday, with special appearances from U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
“This is a big deal for the port,” McAuliffe was quoted in the Virginian-Pilot.
A port, Foxx added, that is a “critical, critical hub on our East Coast.”
Since the start of the year, diversions from a congested U.S West Coast embroiled in a protracted labor dispute and organic growth have spurred considerable business at the Port of Virginia. The port has been posting record-breaking container cargo traffic: up 13 percent year-over-year in May, hitting an historic 230,511 20-foot-equivalent units.
The port, however, has not been able to keep up, in the words of Port Director and CEO John Reinhart.
“The advantages of our port are very well known. We have the best natural harbors on the East Coast. We have an ideal location in the mid-Atlantic,” he said earlier this year at a Virginia Maritime Association conference in Norfolk. “But these natural advantages have been overwhelmed.”
Virginia has experienced off-and-on near-unprecedented congestion after Presidents’ Day weekend, when the port shut down for four consecutive days after a winter storm. Trucks waited in hours-long lines outside of terminals, spilling into major highways, and productivity on the Virginia waterfront dropped 50 percent, by some estimates
The port has instituted a slew of operations adjustments, but recovery has not been as fast as some have wanted or expected.
The latest congestion woes were underscored at Wednesday’s groundbreaking with the presence of Frank Borum, president of the Tidewater Motor Truck Association, who has helped spearhead a campaign to compel the port authority and stakeholders to act, and act swiftly, to prevent matters from getting worse.
Borum told the Virginian-Pilot that he welcomed the new projects at NIT. The expanded north gate in particular has been on his, and others’, wish list for some time, he said.
“My feeling is really good,” the Pilot quoted Borum. “I’m really glad it’s happening. I think they made the right decisions.”
