Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization Regional Freight Study FINAL REPORT February 2018 The opinions, findings, and conclusions in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Georgia Department of Transportation, State of Georgia, or the Federal Highway Administration. This publication was prepared in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. CDM Smith Inc. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 2. GHMPO Regional Freight Mobility Plan Goals and Objectives ..................................................... 2 2.1 National Freight Goals ................................................................................................................ 2 2.2 State Transportation Goals ........................................................................................................ 3 2.3 Gainesville-Hall RTP Goals and Objectives ................................................................................. 4 2.4 State Rail Plan Goals ................................................................................................................... 5 2.5 Atlanta Regional Freight Plan ..................................................................................................... 6 2.5.1 Competitive Economy ................................................................................................... 6 2.5.2 World Class Infrastructure ............................................................................................ 7 2.5.3 Healthy, Livable Communities....................................................................................... 7 2.6 Questions to Assist in Developing Freight Goals and Objectives ............................................... 8 2.7 Goals and Objectives ................................................................................................................ 10 3. GHMPO Regional Freight Mobility Performance Measures ....................................................... 12 3.1.1 What are Performance Measures? ............................................................................. 12 3.1.2 Why use Performance Measures? .............................................................................. 13 3.1.3 What are good performance measure characteristics? ............................................. 13 3.1.4 How were performance measures selected? ............................................................. 13 3.1.5 How will the performance measures be used? .......................................................... 14 3.2 Performance Measures by Goal Area ...................................................................................... 15 3.2.1 Safety ........................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.2 Mobility ....................................................................................................................... 16 3.2.3 Economic Competitiveness ......................................................................................... 18 3.2.4 Community .................................................................................................................. 20 4. GHMPO Regional Frieght Mobility Plan Assessment of Freight Trends, Opportunities and Needs ............................................................................................................................................... 22 4.1 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 22 4.2 Regional Multimodal Overview ................................................................................................ 23 4.2.1 Highway System Profile ............................................................................................... 23 4.3 Regional Freight Flows ............................................................................................................. 41 4.3.1 Freight Commodity Flow Analysis ............................................................................... 41 4.4 Freight Land Use ....................................................................................................................... 46 4.4.1 Hall County Comprehensive Plan (2017) Freight-Related Land Uses ......................... 47 4.4.2 Jackson County Comprehensive Plan (2015) Freight-Related Land Uses ................... 47 i Gainesville-Hall Regional Freight Study 4.4.3 GHMPO Freight Land Use Clusters .............................................................................. 48 4.5 GHMPO Freight Network ......................................................................................................... 50 4.5.1 GHMPO Freight Network Tier 1 Roadway .................................................................. 50 4.5.2 GHMPO Freight Network Tier 2 Roadway .................................................................. 52 4.5.3 GHMPO Freight Network Tier 3 Roadway .................................................................. 55 4.6 Freight Mobility on the GHMPO Freight Network ................................................................... 57 4.6.1 Safety and Hotspot Analysis ........................................................................................ 57 4.6.2 Congestion and Bottleneck Analysis ........................................................................... 61 4.6.3 Future Areas of Congestion ......................................................................................... 71 4.6.4 Proportion of Trucks ................................................................................................... 71 5. GHMPO Regional Freight Mobility Plan Priority Freight Projects and Policies ............................ 77 5.1 Policies for Freight Transportation Investments ...................................................................... 77 5.1.1 Mobility ....................................................................................................................... 77 5.1.2 Safety ........................................................................................................................... 79 5.1.3 Community .................................................................................................................. 79 5.1.4 Economic Competitiveness ......................................................................................... 79 5.2 GHMPO Freight Infrastructure Improvements ........................................................................ 80 5.2.1 Short–Term GHMPO Regional Freight Infrastructure Improvements (2018-2023) .... 80 5.2.2 Mid–Term GHMPO Regional Freight Infrastructure Improvements (2024-2032) ...... 83 5.2.3 Long–Term GHMPO Regional Freight Infrastructure Improvements (2033-2042) ..... 85 5.3 Project Weighting Scoring of GHMPO Freight Infrastructure Improvements ......................... 87 6. FINANCIAL PLAN ...................................................................................................................... 91 6.1 Federal Funding ........................................................................................................................ 91 6.1.1 Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Grants ............................................... 91 6.1.2 TIGER Discretionary Grants ......................................................................................... 92 6.1.3 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Program ........................................... 92 6.1.4 Federal Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 ............................................................ 92 6.1.5 Rail Line Relocation and Improvement Capital Grant Program .................................. 92 6.1.6 Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) ............................. 92 6.1.7 The Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program ............................ 92 6.1.8 Airport Improvement Program (AIP) ........................................................................... 92 6.1.9 Public Private Partnership (P3) ................................................................................... 93 6.2 State Funding ........................................................................................................................... 93 6.2.1 Major Mobility Investment Program (MMIP) ............................................................. 93 6.2.2 Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) ..................................................... 93 6.2.3 Quick Response Program ............................................................................................ 94 6.2.4 Off-System Safety Program ......................................................................................... 96 7. Next Steps ............................................................................................................................... 97 Appendix A – GHMPO Freight Network Tier 1 Roadways ................................................................ 98 Appendix B – GHMPO Freight Network Tier 2 Roadways ................................................................ 99 Appendix C – GHMPO Freight Network Tier 3 Roadways .............................................................. 100 ii Gainesville-Hall