Section 8: Trucking and Rail Movement BATS

Section 8: Trucking and Rail Movement

Trucking

Existing Conditions

Understanding future freight activities is important for matching infrastructure supply to demand and for Figure 8-1 assessing potential investment and operational strategies. Local decision-makers with assistance from the Georgia Department of Transportation, or GDOT, identified areas in need of network-system capacity improvements and placed in the Long Range Transportation Plan for future development.

Figure 8-1 shows a freight hauler stopped at exit 29. Today there are eleven freight terminals in Glynn County. Freight haulers within Glynn County have direct access to inter and intrastate road systems.

Figure 8-2 shows that freight emanating from Glynn County can be transported throughout the United States via highway. The major transportation network system coursing through Glynn County is U.S. Interstate 95. U.S. Interstate 95 runs in a northeast/southwest direction, extending from Jacksonville, Florida to Maine.

Approximately 70 miles Figure 8-2 northeast of the City of Brunswick is U.S. Interstate 16, which runs east/west providing access to Macon and Atlanta (via U.S. Interstate 75). U.S. Interstate 75 runs north and south extending from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to Detroit, MI.

A less significant route traveled by freight haulers is U.S. Highway 17. U.S. 17 extends from the interior of Fla. to Winchester, VA. Other U.S. Highways are 27 and 231, which provides access to the northeastern part of South Georgia, and U.S. Highways 82 and 520, which provide access to the western parts of South Georgia.

Long Range Transportation Plan 2035 8-1 Section 8: Trucking and Rail Movement BATS

Future Needs

Land is useful for traditional economic development only if direct access to transportation networks exists. Fortunately, within Glynn County, excellent transportation networks do exist to facilitate the movement of consumer goods.

The GDOT, Federal Highway Administration, and Glynn County have invested heavily in network-system connectively. Elected officials are aware that building and maintaining a transportation network-system brings very tangible and immediate benefits in terms of jobs, access and land values.

The GDOT and local decision makers have determined that the most economic and feasible solution to increasing network-system capacity is to improve the roadway systems used by the trucking industry. The Brunswick Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization will ensure that freight systems are sufficient by adhering to the Goals and Objectives described in Section 3.4.

Approximately, 2 miles southeast of Exit 29 on U.S. 17 is Colonel’s Island Terminal. Colonel’s Island Terminal is now the fourth largest autoport on the East Coast. On U.S. 17, an overpass was constructed to facilitate the movement of goods. The overpass connects the north and southside of Colonel’s Island giving access to 900 additional acres.

Rail Freight Figure 8-3 Figure 8-3 shows loaded automobiles ready for transport. Figure 8-3 represents only one of the many activity conducted at Colonel’s Island Terminal daily. The Colonel’s Island Terminal Connection Track was a substantial improvement that was necessary to retain existing automobile traffic and increase both automotive and grain traffic to the Colonel’s Island Terminal of the Port of Brunswick. The transportation benefits are those attributable to the connection based on retained and increased railroad grain and automotive traffic. The economic activity and transportation benefits would develop over a five-year period as traffic increased. Existing Conditions

Figure 8-4 displays the Glynn County area rail network. NS, Golden Isles Terminal Railroad, or GITM, and CSXT utilize this rail network.

The NS Brunswick Yard is located approximately halfway between the Community Road SR303 highway-railroad grade crossing and Dock Junction, SR27 (US25-US341) overpasses the CSXT lead track just north of the Norwich Street intersection, and Dock Junction is located east of the overpass.

Long Range Transportation Plan 2035 8-2 Section 8: Trucking and Rail Movement BATS

NS and GITM traffic to and from the Brunswick Yard operates on the NS H-Line through Macon and Jesup. CSXT allows all rail traffic to and from GITM at Anguilla Junction to operate through the CSXT yard.

Existing Train Operations

Brunswick Yard consists of a single main track and two one-half mile long tracks on the east and five one-half mile long tracks on the west side. NS grain trains are typically about 5,000 ft. in length and require disassembly into multiple sections to be placed on multiple yard tracks before the locomotive runaround can occur. The multiple sections must then be reassembled after the runaround for transport to GITM. NS picks up grain from GITM at Anguilla Junction and transports it over CSXT to NS at Southern Junction. It is pulled south to Brunswick Yard where the train is dissembled, runaround, and reassembled prior to movement north across Southern Junction toward Jesup and Macon.

NS mixes automotive, some grain, and any other traffic to GITM with other Brunswick traffic in its regular road trains. The GITM automotive traffic is mixed with other Brunswick traffic because of its volume and service requirements and the fact that it must flow through the Brunswick Yard.

The regular road train operates from Jesup to Brunswick and back each day. The Jesup road train pulls through Brunswick Yard in the morning where it is dissembled into multiple tracks. First and second shift local Brunswick trains then assemble and deliver the cars to various Brunswick and Brunswick area customers and to GITM at Anguilla Junction over the course of the day, picking up other cars from the customers and GITM for return to Brunswick Yard.

The first shift local Brunswick train serves customers south of the yard on the New Castle Lead including the Marine Port Terminal in the morning. In the early afternoon, it reassembles GITM traffic that was set off earlier by the Jesup train on Brunswick Yard tracks, and delivers it to Anguilla Junction. GITM traffic is set off at Anguilla Junction, and traffic from GITM to NS is picked up by the local train and returned to Brunswick Yard where it is disassembled.

The second shift local train serves customers on the Turtle River Lead south of Brunswick Yard including the Mayor’s Port Terminal, and on the H-Line north of Southern Junction. It usually does not deliver or pick up GITM traffic at Anguilla Junction, but may do so when traffic or special circumstances warrant.

The GITM traffic that was picked up from Anguilla Junction and dissembled at Brunswick Yard in the afternoon is reassembled along with other Brunswick originating traffic by the Jesup train about noon the following day, prior to transportation north in the early afternoon. The NS route through Brunswick Yard thus about one day travel time, with most of the time incurred in the connection between local and road trains, i.e. the time between when the local returns from Anguilla Junction in the afternoon and transportation north by the Jesup train the following day.

The initial description of grain train disassembly, runaround, and reassembly may have for simplicity, implied that a single train crew moved the unit train through Brunswick Yard to or from Anguilla Junction. In actuality, road train crews deliver the grain trains to Brunswick Yard, and local train crews transport the cars between the yard and Anguilla Junction and back. A road

Long Range Transportation Plan 2035 8-3 Section 8: Trucking and Rail Movement BATS

train crew is then used to transport the unit grain trains north to Jesup and Macon. The unit grain trains are thus subjected to a connection and crew change in each way through Brunswick Yard similar to the automotive traffic, adding one day to travel time.

As previously mentioned NS traffic to and from GITM consists principally of grain and automobiles. About one-half of the grain is transported in regular road trains and about one-half is transported in unit grain trains. The unit grain trains are most common in the peak October through January grain shipping season.

Unit grain trains presently must be turned around at Brunswick Yard because the current inter-railroad connections and NS track arrangement do not allow locomotives to pull a train “head end” through Brunswick onto CSXT and to the GITM at Anguilla Junction. Conversely, NS grain trains from Anguilla Junction cannot be pulled head end from CSXT onto NS and toward Macon without first being turned around at Brunswick Yard.

Southward grain trains currently cross CSXT at Southern Junction and pull through Brunswick Yard. The head end locomotives on the south end of the train must be uncoupled from the train and “runaround” the train to the north end of the yard. The locomotives couple to the north end of the train and pull the train north onto CSXT at Southern Junction using the existing inter-railroad connection. NS sets off the cars at Anguilla Junction where GITM picks them up for delivery to Colonel’s Island.

Long Range Transportation Plan 2035 8-4 Section 8: Trucking and Rail Movement BATS

Figure 8-4

Long Range Transportation Plan 2035 8-5