(The following article by Gregory Richards was posted on the Virginian-Pilot website on May 9.)
NORFOLK, Va. — Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Norfolk Southern Chief Executive Wick Moorman finalized an agreement Monday for the state to contribute $22.3 million to the $251 million Heartland Corridor.
The project involves raising 28 railroad tunnels so Norfolk Southern trains stacked two high with truck-sized cargo containers can run between the port of Hampton Roads and Chicago. Also included is the construction of three intermodal terminals where containers will be transferred between trucks and trains.
One of those facilities will be in Roanoke, where Kaine and Moorman met Monday.
A state transportation panel had approved the allotment of $22.3 million in December. The signing of a “memorandum of understanding” between Kaine and Moorman signified that the details of the contribution have been worked out, said Robin Chapman, a spokesman for Norfolk-based Norfolk Southern Corp.
The project is expected to be a boon to the port because it will shave 233 miles and about a day’s travel time for trains moving between Hampton Roads and Chicago. The faster pace will place Hampton Roads on equal footing with New York when it comes to moving freight to the Midwest, a major market for both ports.
Its benefits will be felt in Roanoke as well. Officials spoke Monday about how the $18 million Roanoke terminal will lift that city’s economy with the large distribution centers that it will likely attract. Also, they said the project will give Roanoke area businesses an easier way to move freight to the rest of the world.
With the Heartland Corridor, “Virginia stands to be better able to compete in the global marketplace than any other state,” Kaine said.
The exact location of the Roanoke terminal has not been announced, Chapman said. Hauling cargo containers is among the fastest-growing business segments for Norfolk Southern, the nation’s fourth-largest railroad.
The federal government has contributed $125.4 million for the corridor, bringing to $147.7 million the total public contribution for the projected $251 million project.
Construction has yet to begin on the project, which is still in the design phase, Chapman said. Overall completion is targeted for 2009.
In a related project, Virginia has earmarked an additional $15 million to relocate a rail line in Portsmouth that will connect the Heartland Corridor to the APM Terminals facility under construction and the marine terminal planned for Craney Island. Moving the track to the median of Interstate 664 and Va. 164 will eliminate 12 grade crossings from busy stretches of road.
The state is still figuring out how to pay for the balance of that $60 million undertaking, said Jennifer Pickett, spokeswoman for the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation.