Virginia sees the bigger supply picture
The State of Virginia, technically a “Commonwealth”, is setting the pace in transportation planning.
It might help that the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Sean Connaughton, is a former maritime lawyer who ran the Maritime Administration during George W Bush’s second term.
If you’ve ever met Sean, you can instantly see that he is a “man of action” rather than a hack politician. He shows up at conferences in New York and stays for the entire day; he goes out to dinner with industry people (rather than taking the 5 pm Acela back to Washington, DC). His view of the world has influenced the work of economists and engineers tasked with peering decades into the future and making decisions about roads, rails, and - yes, ports.
Virginia, with the help of top consultants, has recently developed a 523 page multi-modal freight plan, available for reading on the VDOT website. Port issues are seen not only as maritime problems, but, instead are tied to wider issues.
Thus, the objective of port investment (linked to a separate master plan developed by the Virginia Port Authority) goes beyond simply diverting cargo from competitors, and thereby increasing throughput-linked lease revenues. Instead, the context is broadened - “improvements to seaports and airports reduce Virginia’s reliance on out-of-state facilities, reducing the need for long-haul truck trips".
The vast majority of the $1.6bn that could be invested in years up through 2015 would be devoted to preparations for the eventual building of a large container terminal at Craney Island, if the freight plan is implemented.
Beyond 2015, the finesse of the longer term planners makes for good reading in this truly multi-modal story. The success of the existing ports (and future facilities) is interwoven with the ability of railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX to carve out their respective rail corridors connecting to a wider hinterland.
Under one planning scenario, the trains would come right down to the quayside with on dock rail project at Craney Island. Besides road widening and construction of new connectors around Hampton Roads/ Norfolk, one set of plans calls for a barge service around the harbour area to help relieve regional road congestion.
The VDOT plan completes at least one virtuous circle - barging services around Norfolk are one initiative included in the Marine Highway initiative from MARAD, Mr Connaughton’s former agency.
