BIRMINGHAM REGIONAL FREIGHT PLAN Presentation to MPO Committees for Adoption WHY DEVELOP THE MPO’S FIRST REGIONAL FREIGHT PLAN? 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) increased the focus on freight: It defines requirements for state freight plans Required States and MPOs to adopt freight performance measures and performance targets Established a new National Highway Freight Program that authorizes $1.1 to $1.5 billion annually for freight infrastructure improvements on the National Highway Freight Network WHY DEVELOP THE MPO’S FIRST REGIONAL FREIGHT PLAN? 2017 Alabama Statewide Freight Plan has specific requirements that must be met in MPO freight plans The Plan will ensure freight system needs are included as we develop the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan PIEDMONT ATLANTIC MEGAREGION Birmingham is a core city within the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion which spans from central North Carolina to Alabama and western Tennessee including: Raleigh-Durham Greensboro--Winston-Salem--High Point Charlotte Greenville Atlanta Birmingham Nashville Memphis REGIONAL FREIGHT SYSTEM What makes up the freight and logistics system? NATIONAL HIGHWAY FREIGHT NETWORK In Birmingham, this includes I- 65, I-20, and I-459 Includes the following Intermodal Connectors: Burlington Northern RR Dixie Hub Center (Finley Ave.) Ernest Norris Railroad Yard (Irondale) Port of Birmingham Colonial Pipeline RAILROADS Class I Railroads include: BNSF Railway: 36 miles CSX: 223 miles Norfolk Southern Railway: 267 miles Class III Railroads include: Alabama Warrior Railway: 7 miles Alabama and Tennessee River Railway: 29 miles Birmingham Terminal Railway: 37 miles Birmingham is one of the few gateway cities where the major east and west railroads interchange WATERWAYS AND PORT BIRMINGHAM Port Birmingham consists of 184 acres with a half mile of frontage on the Black Warrior River BHM BIRMINGHAM AND Airport BESSEMER AIRPORTS Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Alabama by passenger volume, and ranks 97th in cargo operations 12,000 and 7,000 ft runways Bessemer Municipal Airport Bessemer (EKY) is classified as a reliever airport with a 6,000 ft runway Municipal Airport FOREIGN TRADE ZONE No. 98 Birmingham is home to FTZ No. 98, includes subzones: 98A Mercedes-Benz 98B ZJ Industries 98C JVC America 98D NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. Locations within Birmingham are: Acipco – 314 acres Airport Air Cargo – 50.5 acres Airport CBI – 33.2 acres Airport North/Northeast – 442 acres Airport West – 24.8 acres CSX Railroad – 100 acres Munger – 96.35 acres Oxmoor Valley/USX – 705 acres Oxmoor Industrial Park – 28.8 acres Pizitz/McRae’s Warehouse – 13.9 acres Colonial Pipeline Company is one of many private OTHER FREIGHT companies serving the SYSTEM Birmingham region COMPONENTS Gas pipelines Industrial parks Warehouses Distribution centers Trucking companies Manufacturers TOP COMMODITIES MOVING ON THE REGIONAL FREIGHT SYSTEM (2015) All Others 26% Waste/scrap 3% Articles-base metal 3% Other foodstuffs 4% Motorized vehicles 4% Wood prods. 5% Base metals 6% Nonmetal min. prods. 7% Gravel 10% Coal-n.e.c. 12% Coal 20% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% COMMODITY FLOW ANALYSIS Trading Partners - Inbound More goods come into the region than leave it These goods come from adjacent states, with some exceptions (Coal from Wyoming and metallic ores from Minnesota) COMMODITY FLOW ANALYSIS Trading Partners - Outbound Commodities originating in the region typically do not travel far and very little is sent west Largest receivers of this freight are Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE FREIGHT INDUSTRY Employment Birmingham’s freight industry is a critical component to the regional economy: Mining, Agriculture, Forestry, Quarrying, and Oil Fishing, and Hunting - & Gas Extraction - 3% 4% Generates 91,000 freight jobs (15% of total jobs) Transportation & $65K average salary (45% higher than non-freight Warehousing - 20% Manufacturing - related jobs) 40% Generates $30 billion in total economic output (28% of the region’s total) Wholesale Trade - 33% Source: IMPLAN, 2014. 4 MEETINGS OF THE FREIGHT ADVISORY COMMITTEE Alabama Trucking Association Bessemer Airport Authority Birmingham Airport Authority Birmingham Business Alliance Birmingham Terminal Railway BNSF Railway Christie Strategy Group Church Transportation and Logistics City of Birmingham Economic Development CSX Industrial Development EBSCO Industries, Inc. Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, LLC Jefferson County Development Authority KAMTEK Norfolk Southern 25 STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED Alabama Trucking Association Parker Towing Bessemer Airport Authority Regional Traffic Management Center (TMC) Birmingham Airport Authority Shelby County Birmingham Business Alliance Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway Development Birmingham Terminal Railway Authority BNSF Railway Transportation and Logistical Services (TLS) Christie Strategy Group UAB Planning Design and Construction Church Transportation and Logistics Vulcan Materials Company City of Birmingham Economic Warrior Tom Bigbee Waterway Association Development Watco Alabama Port Services (Port Birmingham) CSX Industrial Development Watkins Trucking Company EBSCO Industries, Inc. Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, LLC Jefferson County Development Authority KAMTEK Norfolk Southern FINALIZING THE ROADWAY NEEDS LIST Developed list of projects based on site reviews and stakeholder input Reviewed 2045 Regional Transportation Plan projects Eliminated projects underway or complete Eliminated projects in predominantly residential communities Compared stakeholder list to existing project list and identified new projects that address identified needs Developed project description and cost estimate for new projects FINALIZING THE NEEDS LIST - AIRPORTS Airports Met with Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport to review project list provided in current Master Plan Met with Bessemer Municipal Airport to review project list in their Capital Improvement Plan Freight or freight friendly projects were identified, discussed, documented and included FINALIZING THE NEEDS LIST – PORT BIRMINGHAM Port Birmingham Met with Port Birmingham and Watco to discuss needs Freight projects (terminal, waterway, rail and roadway connections) were identified, discussed, documented and included PROJECT PRIORITIZATION: PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND WEIGHTS All projects (from all modes of transportation) were run through a series of 10 performance measures and given a composite performance score Equal weights were used for all performance measures Performance Area Goals Objectives Performance Measures Weight Improve access to critical Does Project improve last-mile access to freight assets designated freight facility/asset? 10 Advance regional Improve (intermodal) Does Project improve network connection? 10 economic development Economic Impacts connections on freight network Will project enhance capacity ? through strategic freight 10 investments Enhance freight related Does project improve/create access to employment and development industrial centers (e.g., distribution center; opportunities warehouse; manufacturing facility) 10 Does the project have benefits for other External Impacts Identify opportunity to Freight as a good neighbor users? 10 leverage freight investment Improve safety for all freight for benefit of all Does project improve safety? system users 10 Does project address a network segment Reduce delay on freight network identified by stakeholders as a freight bottleneck? 10 Reduce costs for shippers, Will project reduce delay or improve reliability Improve reliability and Transportation operators, and consumers on a network segment? 10 reduce congestion of Impacts Will project improve the efficiency of freight network Enhance travel time reliability existing/planned freight operations? 10 Will project improve the condition of existing Improve condition of the freight freight assets (rolling stock/vehicles, rail, network roadway (pavement/bridge)? 10 TOTAL Points 100 ADDITIONAL REFINEMENT FOR ROADWAY PROJECTS Categorized as either “Fiscally Constrained” or “Visionary” (unfunded) projects Prioritization for roadway projects was further refined to reflect the cost-effectiveness of the potential investment i.e High priority projects: highest performance achieved at the lowest relative cost HIGH RANKED FISCALLY CONSTRAINED ROADWAY PROJECTS HIGH RANKED VISIONARY ROADWAY PROJECTS HIGH RANKED BHM AIRPORT PROJECTS HIGH RANKED BESSEMER MUNICPAL AIRPORT PROJECTS PORT BIRMINGHAM PROJECTS EXAMPLE OF RAILROAD NEEDS FROM STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS Resolve conflicts with roadways (at-grade crossings, etc.) Preserve rail-served industrial property for rail-served industrial use Trucks routed through neighborhood Note: Requests were sent to Class I railroads requesting documentation of needs; no needs were submitted Congestion adjacent to interchanges Lindsay Puckett, AICP Principal Planner [email protected] 264-8421 Marshall Farmer Senior GIS Analyst [email protected] 264-8421 THANK YOU!.