A new interview with Eric Jehu, Vice President of Logistics for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), for a Business Facilities magazine podcast sheds more light on that state's overwhelming infrastructure advantages over Maryland, and provides a preview of the Old Dominion's near-term plans to expand that edge even further. The magazine named Virginia as its 2024 State of the Year, following CNBC’s declaration of the Commonwealth as "America’s Top State for Business 2024." According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics' latest report on ports published last month, the Port of Virginia ranks 9th in total tonnage of all American ports; the Port of Baltimore ranks 16th. Among ports handling over 1000 TEUs (a standard cargo container size) per year, the Port of Virginia ranks 6th, while the Port of Baltimore is 15th.
Why does the Port of Virginia enjoy such greater volumes of cargo? Its shipping channel is "the deepest and widest on the coast, to accommodate the largest of the largest container vessels that are operating in the marketplace today, and as well as [the container ships of] the future," Jehu says. The port's cranes are capable of reaching "all the way across those very wide ships, so that, again, the productivity is faster than any other port on the coast. We're the only place where you can actually bring those large ships in and out efficiently. It's two-way traffic, so you don't have to stop all of the traffic to let one big ship come in."
Jehu considers the Port of Virginia's performance after the collapse of Maryland's Key Bridge last year to have been a tremendous opportunity to woo truckers and shippers from Baltimore to Norfolk. He says Virginia's port was able to demonstrate that it works faster and more efficiently during an emergency than Baltimore and other ports do under normal conditions. "So, out of every tragedy there's opportunity right? There's a silver lining, however the saying goes. And each time an event like that takes place, it shines a light on Virginia's ability to adapt. So, the Key Bridge collapsing was a human tragedy and maritime disruption for our friends in Baltimore. [But] operationally [when traffic was diverted from Baltimore to Norfolk], there was virtually no impact" on service at Norfolk.
The interview also covers Virginia' ongoing projects to expand highway capacity to-and-from the Port of Virginia through the Hampton Roads area. This includes the latest project, widening the current four-lane segments along nearly ten miles of the I-64 corridor in Norfolk and Hampton, with new twin tunnels across the harbor. It will be the largest highway project in the history of the state, and follows the construction of many other highways, as well as Express Lanes from Fredericksburg to Washington, D.C.
But the Old Dominion isn't resting on its laurels. Dulles International Airport has already helped lure many major corporate headquarters to the state. Northern Virginia cities enjoy direct access to the airport, which is the only one in the region that meets the needs of international businesspeople in terms of departure frequency, and in the number of international business destinations. Maryland leaders have - intentionally - failed to construct a new Potomac River crossing to the Dulles area that was planned decades ago. Now Virginia is actively going to expand its Dulles advantage.
A study ordered by the state found that Dulles is an "underused asset," that has the potential to steal cargo traffic from the current leading airports for air cargo in New York, Chicago, and Atlanta. Jehu notes that such new cargo service would attract more pharmaceutical companies to Virginia, as many of their products require swift air transport around the globe. Montgomery County could take advantage of that new cargo capacity, but only if it constructs the new Potomac River crossing that would extend I-370 to Dulles. Without that bridge, Virginia will continue to rapidly close in on Maryland's rapidly shrinking advantage in the biotech field, which has been the one bright spot in Montgomery County and Maryland's otherwise-moribund economies this century.
One other logistics and infrastructure jewel in Virginia's crown not mentioned by Jehu is the new addition of commercial passenger flights out of Manassas Regional Airport expected later this year. Meanwhile, all the talk around Montgomery County's Airpark is about wanting to curtail air traffic there, rather than expanding it. Heckuva job, Brownie!
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