Keeping the port moving
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The number of shipping containers passing through the Port of New York and New Jersey is huge, almost 3 million last year alone. And the number will grow about 5 percent a year for the next decade.
That's good economic news for the Garden State. But the economic picture could get cloudier -- and the average resident's daily commute more painful -- if those shipping containers can't get to and from the port with a minimum of delay.
It's crucial, then, that the Port Authority, the state Department of Transportation and private businesses intensify efforts -- and collaboration on funding -- to shift as many containers from trucks to trains as possible. Beginning steps to do that, including the expansion of direct rail shipments from Port Elizabeth and Staten Island, have taken place over the past few years, and more are needed.
One promising idea that has been kicking around for some time is to fix a 2 1/2-mile stretch of old track that would allow a more direct freight route between the seaport and the Raritan Center business and industrial complex in Edison.
It would cost $3 million to get service running in the short term, and $40 million or more over several years to improve bridge and track alignments to move trains more efficiently. The money would be well worth it. A single train carrying 250 cargo containers to the center could replace about 500 truck trips.
Unfortunately, rail cannot be the only answer to the port's transportation needs. Train shipments often don't become cost-effective until freight is traveling 250 miles or more. Many containers that come into Port Newark and New York don't go that far. They stay within the region. A significant share of containers will always have to move by truck.
To meet that demand, the transportation agencies are spending more than $300 million over the next few years to upgrade local roads to help trucks get into and out of the port. But it is encouraging that the agencies also are joining with private business to pursue other measures to minimize additional congestion.
The most promising alternative approach focuses on making sure new warehouses and distribution facilities are built as close as possible to the port. That will cut the time and distance trucks have to travel. And there is space to build on the numerous old brownfield sites in Hudson and Essex counties.
This also will help ordinary drivers. Every container truck that can travel just five or 10 miles around the port is one less big rig clogging the New Jersey Turnpike in southern Middlesex County, where too much of the warehouse construction of the past 25 years occurred.
The port is an economic bright spot for the state. The Port Authority and the state will have to pursue every creative alternative to keep traffic problems from tarnishing its luster.
© 2007 The Star Ledger
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