Transportation officials seek public comment on truck-to-rail diversion proposal

BRISTOL, Va. – A new three-year study on diverting commercial truck traffic from Interstate 81 falls short, according to a local pro-railroad group.

Issued earlier this month by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and Department of Transportation, the study outlines five strategies – costing between $500 million and $9 billion – for diverting freight from the highway to railroads.

The department is seeking public comments on the study by a Feb. 10 deadline.

I-81 through Virginia handled nearly 3.4 million trucks in 2008, but that number is projected to reach 7.1 million by 2035, according to the study, which deals only with commercial traffic. The study is unrelated to the proposed $210 million Trans-Dominion Express passenger rail plan advanced in 2007.

The 96-page truck traffic plan relies heavily on the proposed “Crescent Corridor” – a Norfolk Southern initiative to establish a high-speed freight rail route between the Gulf Coast and Northeastern U.S.

It is on that point that Rees Shearer, chairman of RAIL Solution, said the study “severely disappoints.” RAIL Solution is a grassroots advocacy organization in Virginia that promotes railroads as part of a balanced transportation plan.

“Because the [study] fails to make the intended comprehensive feasibility evaluation of rail’s capabilities to divert through trucks from I-81 in Virginia, and because it strays so far from the detailed scope of work envisaged in the enabling legislation, it is of disappointingly minimal usefulness,” Shearer wrote in a statement denouncing the study.

“The [study] does little more than ratify Norfolk Southern’s Crescent Corridor initiative, which is the only alternative studied in detail and the only one found to be feasible,” Shearer said.

Virginia has set aside $95 million to support development of the Crescent Corridor and supports an application for $300 million in federal stimulus funds across the five affected states.

The RAIL Solutions group also questioned the motivation of Massachusetts-based Cambridge Systematics, the firm that developed the Virginia study.

“Cambridge Systematics role as lead contractor on the study for the Commonwealth represents a severe conflict of interest most uncustomary for a provider of professional services,” Shearer wrote. “CS is also Norfolk Southern’s principal contractor for its Crescent Corridor proposal and spearheaded the grant application to the federal government in support of stimulus funding for the Crescent Corridor.”

Telephone calls to the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation and Cambridge Systematics weren’t returned.

The study offers three recommendations: Advance the Crescent Corridor; investigate other potentially feasible truck-to-rail diversion strategies; and continue to advance highway improvements listed in the previous I-81 impact statement.

“I-81 has the highest truck percentage and carries the second-highest number of trucks of any major route in Virginia,” according to the study.

An average of almost 9,300 commercial trucks, in both directions, use some or all of the 111-mile section of Interstate 81 from Bristol to the Maryland state line daily, according to the study.

About 62 percent were passing through Virginia while only 6 percent were moving between origins and destinations in the state.

The study’s specific strategies include:

* Multi-state upgrades of existing rail lines from Bristol to the Maryland state line and the Piedmont line from the North Carolina state line to Manassas and northward.

* Following the proposed Crescent Corridor, upgrading existing lines and improving technology at intermodal hubs to load and unload freight trailers onto rail cars. The Crescent Corridor is conceived as a double-stack, container-based plan where containers would be transferred by overhead cranes between truck and rail at regional facilities.

* Combining improvements of existing routes with the Crescent Corridor plan, using hubs in Front Royal and a planned facility near Roanoke.

* Following the first three options and upgrading the Shenandoah line starting at Bristol to accommodate new technology and service speeds of 60-70 mph. That high-speed network, as proposed, should extend from Knoxville, Tenn., to at least Harrisburg, Pa.

The first option is projected to divert 13.5 percent of commercial trucks off Interstate 81 through 2035, would cost Virginia $512 million and all states a combined $2.1 billion.

A combination of the first two strategies would divert 20.3 percent of trucks to rail, cost the state $762 million and all states $2.7 billion.

Other options – or combinations of options are projected to cost Virginia between $862 million and $9.1 billion, while diverting between 17 percent and 37 percent of commercial traffic from the highway.

If the state followed all of the suggested options outlined in the study, it could divert 54.2 percent of all trucks from I-81 by 2035.

The public is urged to comment on the study, which is available on the Department of Rail and Public Transportation Web site. Comments may be e-mailed to drptpr@virginia.gov, mailed to Public Information Office, DRPT, 600 E. Main St., Suite 2102, Richmond, VA 23219 or faxed to (804) 225-3752.

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