Grant eyed to aid Pennsylvania’s Crescent Corridor
Written by jrood
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is trying to land $47 million in federal aid to upgrade Harrisburg rail freight facilities, the Harrisburg Patriot News reports. The money would help Norfolk Southern add a third unloading track and install additional parking spaces for trailers at the terminal along Industrial Road.
The proposed upgrades are
related to other projects along the Crescent Corridor, which stretches from
northern New Jersey to New Orleans. The goal is to shift as much freight
traffic as possible from highways to railroads, said Rudy Husband, spokesman
for Virginia-based Norfolk Southern.
Rendell said the total
Crescent Corridor projects could create or enhance as many as 26,000 jobs. They
also could save nearly 10 millions gallons of fuel per year, according to
Norfolk Southern.
The total cost of the
project is undetermined.
The Harrisburg facility,
called an intermodal terminal, is a hub where truck trailers and shipping
containers are transferred between trucks and trains. A train stacked two
containers high carries as much freight as 280 trucks, Husband said. Each train
emits only a fraction of the carbon dioxide and particulates that each truck
does, he said.
Husband said there has
recently been a change in the trucking industry. Trucking companies no longer
want to do long-distance hauling, so they look for transport companies like
Norfolk Southern to do the long hauls, allowing their drivers to do mainly local,
shorter-distance driving.
"Investing in rail
freight pays big dividends for our economy and the environment," Rendell
said. "Moving freight off our highways eases congestion and saves pavement
wear and tear."
The money for the Harrisburg
terminal is part of $300-million Rendell is seeking from the federal American
Reinvestment and Recovery Act for rail improvement projects. The act includes a
$1.5 billion transportation program for projects of regional or national
significance.
Norfolk Southern is also
building a $95-million intermodal terminal in Greencastle, Franklin County.
Construction is expected to begin next year.
