Recent discussions about an intermodal facility being built in our region— tying rail, truck, barge and air transportation of goods together — are a great idea.

In fact, you need to look no further than the Heartland Corridor project to understand the impact of such a project.

Now under construction, The Heartland Corridor is a great example of how the economic stimulus money was to be spent: rebuilding our nation's crumbling and outdated infrastructure.

The Corridor is a rail line stretching from Portsmouth, Va., to Chicago. Built in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the rail line passes through 28 tunnels that will not accommodate modern double-stacked containers.

So Norfolk Southern has joined with the states and federal government to do a $313 million makeover on the route. Approximately $183 million is coming from the states and federal government with Norfolk Southern picking up the rest.

Many of the tunnels are being notched to allow them to handle the squared-off containers. Some tunnels are having the tops completely removed while others are being raised, or in some cases having the track lowered. In at least one case, the track is being completely routed around a tunnel.
The goal is to lower the cost of moving freight from point A to point B.

Freight from Asia is now offloaded on the West Coast and shipped by rail and truck to the upper Midwest. Upon completion of the corridor, the cargo will actually be able to stay on a ship all the way to Portsmouth, via the Panama Canal, and then be taken by rail and truck. While it will increase shipping time by about one week, it will save shippers $500 per container.

Intermodal transportation parks in Roanoke, Va.; Prichard, W.Va.; and Columbus, Ohio, will serve as relay points to transition freight from rail to truck.
Our region is ideal for such a park. Within a 50-mile radius you have some of the busiest shipping routes in the nation, including the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers; Interstates 24, 55 and 57; and major rail lines. And perhaps Barkley Regional Airport could become another piece.

Keys to making a facility work in this area are the continued upgrading of Kentucky and Olmsted, Ill., locks, as well as expanding facilities and runways at Barkley if an air component could be justified.

We are uniquely positioned to have one of the best intermodal facilities in the nation, and as the Heartland Corridor consortium has proven, money can be had for such a project.

Gary Adkisson is the Four Rivers Business Journal's general manager.