(The following story by C. Benjamin Ford appeared on The Gazette website on December 2, 2009.)
GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Supporters of the $842 million National Gateway project to open the Port of Baltimore and Maryland’s rail lines to more markets throughout the nation tout its economic and environmental benefits, but the project cannot proceed until the height of 61 tunnels and bridges in the state are increased to accommodate double-stack freight cars.
With freight traffic down because of the recession, the time to raise those heights is now, when the work will cause fewer disruptions, said CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan. CSX, which owns the rail lines, would invest more than $395 million in the upgrades and is seeking $258 million from the federal government and $189 million from states in the region: Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio.
While freight volume is off now, over the next 20 years it is expected to grow by 70 percent, Sullivan said. Putting more of it onto intermodal rail cars instead of in tractor-trailer trucks saves fuel, pollutes less and relieves congestion on highways, Sullivan said.
Many of those bridges and tunnels are too low by a couple of feet to carry the taller double-stacked rail cars.
“What we’re doing is really building and preparing for the future, and the time to do that is now,” Sullivan said.
CSX is investing more than $1.6 billion, including the $395 for National Gateway, in improvements to its railroads and maintenance of its facilities, Sullivan said.
“There are companies and industries in the current economic circumstances that decided to scale things back,” Sullivan said. “We’ve decided to continue investing. As you see more and more traffic coming, you can’t prepare for it when it’s hitting you. You have to prepare for it now.”
One train can carry more than can be hauled by 280 trucks, Sullivan said. A study showed that expanding the rail service through Maryland would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2 million tons annually and save more than 200 million gallons of fuel, he said.
The project has the support of Maryland’s congressional caucus, as well as business and environmental groups.
“I’m pleased to join with members of the Maryland delegation to support the National Gateway, which will create jobs, update our transportation infrastructure, and ensure that goods are transported efficiently from the ports in our region to communities around the nation,” said Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington in a statement.
“The Port of Baltimore, BWI, the [Intercounty Connector], the Woodrow Wilson Bridge — all are coming together. It all helps drive the economy of Maryland,” said Kathleen T. Snyder, president and CEO of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, which supports the program. “With this project, there are multiple benefits. It builds more jobs in an environmentally friendly way and is more fuel-efficient than other means of transportation.”
By expanding the capacity of the region’s rail tunnels and bridges, the project would improve the Port of Baltimore’s market access potential, which ties in well with the other planned improvements for the port, Sullivan said.
Last week, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) announced a 50-year contract with Ports America to operate the Port of Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal, which is expected to produce 5,700 jobs.
As part of the agreement with Ports America, the company will construct a $105 million, 50-foot berth that will allow larger ships to dock by the time the Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2014.
The shipping patterns are going to change once the Panama Canal work is done and the new berth is built in Baltimore, Sullivan said.
The National Gateway is expected to be completed by 2015, but Sullivan said it could be completed as early as 2012 once funding is in place.
Tunnels such as the Howard Street tunnel in Baltimore are not high enough for the double-stacked intermodal rail cars.
The work on the bridges and tunnels will have to be conducted while creating a minimum disruption to existing freight and passenger traffic, Sullivan said.
One of the bridges, the East Deer Park Bridge between Gaithersburg and Washington Grove, had a $450,000 restoration, funded by Montgomery County, just six months ago.
At 19 feet and 4 inches above the tracks, the bridge will be nearly 2 feet too low for the taller freight cars.