Infrastructure expansion project looks to increase intermodal business. Planned improvements aim to attract more manufacturing and shipper investment.
Faced with costly delays caused by supply chain disruptions, many freight hubs are looking to streamline freight operations on site with infrastructure improvement and expansion plans. At the St. Louis Regional Freightway, the 2025 Multimodal Transportation Priority Projects List – an ambitious schedule of infrastructure improvements that began in 2023 – is intended to not only keep pace with competitor hubs, but also to highlight enhanced intermodal services and attract more manufacturing and shipper investment and traffic throughout the region.
Importance of Intermodal Investment
According to Mary C. Lamie, Executive Vice President of Multimodal Enterprises for Bi-State Development, and Head of the St. Louis Regional Freightway, one of the biggest challenges for intermodal freight transportation remains understanding of the importance the role intermodal infrastructure plays.
She added, “The St. Louis region is connected to East, West, and Gulf Coast ports by six Class I railroads; less than a one-day truck drive to other major manufacturing markets like Kansas City, Memphis, Columbus, Chicago and Nashville; home to two international cargo airports; and located at the most strategic site on the Mississippi River. If gas prices fluctuate, shippers want modal options and they benefit from the flexibility to move freight through multiple modes of transportation—truck, rail or barge.”
Lamie explained, “The barge industry prioritized the Merchants (Rail) Bridge replacement project over the Mississippi River as its highest priority infrastructure project. Rail rates impact barge rates when multiple modes are used. The total transportation cost and transit time for a commodity to be transported is impacted by the performance of all the modes involved with its trip. Understanding how infrastructure impacts all modes of transportation and its relationship to on-time delivery helps a project better compete for funding and supports the need for sustainable funding.”
Finding Funding, Supporting Solutions
With aging hubs comes the age-old problem of securing funding to address infrastructure in need of improvements or expansion. As high-priority infrastructure needs are identified in the St. Louis region, the St. Louis Regional Freight Development Committee advocates for funding. Lamie pointed out that the committee includes “industry leaders representing manufacturing, logistics, industrial real estate, workforce development, academia, all modes of transportation, both the Illinois and Missouri Departments of Transportation and the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.”
She elaborated, “The Committee works directly with local and state officials and departments of transportation to set infrastructure priorities by helping them understand how infrastructure and efficiency impacts on-time delivery and costs. A project included on the St. Louis Regional Freightway’s Priority List indicates the project has unanimous support by leaders in the region’s freight industry and helps raise awareness about the needs the project will address.”
Lamie continued, “When funding opportunities become available, the engagement and project awareness are already in place. Decision-makers from both Illinois and Missouri are already aware of the project benefits and benefits to the freight network. All of these efforts increase project-funding competitiveness making it a stronger candidate for funding.”
Reporting the progress of the Priority Project List, Lamie said, “The 2025 Priority Projects List includes 27 projects representing a total investment of $8 billion. More than $500 million in projects have been completed and nearly $2.3 billion in additional projects have been fully funded, with many scheduled for construction. This is a valuable tool used to advocate support and funding for multimodal transportation.”
Increased Facilities a Win-Win
Building more intermodal facilities to attract more manufacturing and shipper investment will also likely attract more intermodal services, so could there be any foreseeable downside to what appears to be a win-win scenario for the St. Louis Regional Freightway? Not according to Lamie.
“The St. Louis region has been fortunate with our track record for infrastructure investment that eliminates bottlenecks and improves freight flows. Notable projects include the completion of the $220 million Merchants Bridge over the Mississippi River in 2022 that doubles rail capacity; IDOT/MoDOT’s I-270 added lane project totaling nearly $1 billion, which includes a new $496 million Mississippi River vehicle bridge crossing, and a proposed $2.8 billion new terminal at St. Louis Lambert International Airport that supports both passenger and air cargo services.”
She added, “Workforce development includes exceptional bi-state regional collaboration for transportation-related jobs. These programs work with industry leaders to connect skilled workers with employers. Several include port and rail tours and Mississippi riverboat cruises to see firsthand the different career paths in the region’s transportation, manufacturing and logistics industries. The Ag Coast of America riverboat and rail tours provide an up-close look at critical elements of the region’s multimodal freight network, including roads and bridges, rail, and barge facilities, including intermodal operations at port facilities. For student groups and educational administrators, the cruise helps increase awareness of the types of jobs available offering a great living wage and helps connects classroom academic knowledge to real-world business and industry application.”
Ports, Projects and Partnerships
As the St. Louis Regional Freightway continues to complete its 2025 Priority Projects List, the question arises of how the new and improved facilities and services will be marketed to ensure manufacturers and shippers are aware they exist as transportation options. According to Lamie, project updates will be available through established partnerships and online promotions.
“We are always looking for ways to market and optimize the freight network through public and private partnerships. We’ve signed MOUs with Gulf Coast ports like the Port of Plaquemines and New Orleans. These are agreements of engagement that help generate new business promoting international and inland trade routes. We’ve engaged with the Port of Savannah, Georgia; Port of New York/New Jersey; and the Port of Norfolk, Virginia; all focusing on rail connectivity and how infrastructure investment at one location benefits transportation costs at another location.”
She continued, “Discussions with the Port of Long Beach help promote its Supply Chain Information Highway program that gives beneficial cargo owners the ability to access data from freight moving in a way that also helps improve in-transit visibility. Partnerships with Kansas City, Missouri, include support of the recently announced $2.8 billion in funding for the Interstate 70 project across the State of Missouri and promoting the inland waterway connectivity and container-on-barge services. All of these partnerships promote port capacity and shipping capabilities that ultimately attract shippers and carriers to the St. Louis region.”
Lamie added, “The St. Louis Regional Freightway’s website –TheFreightway.com – promotes the region’s freight assets including industrial real estate sites and all modes of our transportation network. Several of the industrial real estate sites are ports with intermodal services via rail, barge, and truck accessibility. Information about the region’s status as the Ag (Agriculture) Coast of America, most efficient inland port in the nation and the 2025 St. Louis Regional Freightway’s list of priority infrastructure projects are also provided. The website builds awareness of the region’s role as a global logistics hub, and is a tool that helps streamline the site selection process for site selectors and attract shippers and carriers to the St. Louis region.”
