Road construction is occurring across the United States. You may be thinking the only reason is to support increased traffic from a growing population. However, you may be surprised that large road construction projects are also created to support commercial traffic for hauling goods to and from Inland Ports. You may be in one of the many States with a developing Inland Port.
What is an Inland Port?
An Inland Port is a dry port away from the coastal port, but near railways, airports, and road transportation hubs.
An Inland Port performs many of the same functions as a coastal port processing trade and distribution of goods. They are large regional centers serving domestic and international markets with access to large labor forces.
An Inland Port supports coastal ports and enhances our nation's supply chains. To name just a couple of advantages provided by an Inland Port:
- Expedited handing and distribution of goods because of easy access to multi-modal transportation, which may not be available at the coastal port.
- Reduced congestion on over-extended coastal ports that are operating at their maximum performance levels.
As stated in 10 Inland Ports to Watch
Located outside crowded port areas, where land is scarce or not available at all, inland ports’ advantages are well documented because of their positive impact on regional industrial development and because they create space for more buildings in proximity to intermodal sites, thus relieving pressure in port areas and on roadways.
Multi Modal Transportation
As an example, Texas has a developing Inland Port just a few minutes drive south of Dallas and 5, and more, hours north of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican border. This area is uniquely positioned as a multi-modal distribution hub:
- Union Pacific Southern Dallas Intermodal Facility
- BNSF Railway (Planned Intermodal Facility)
- Four Major Highway Connectors (I20, I45, I35, Loop 9)
- Lancaster Airport
Construction is Needed
Road construction is occurring throughout the State of Texas. Some of the construction would be occurring just because of increased population. However, the increased distribution of goods is also creating the need for advanced road design to accommodate increased truck traffic from the gulf of Mexico up to the Inland Port just south of Dallas. To drive from Dallas to the Port of Houston, for instance, is around four hours. The State is large and its economic growth does not look like it is going to pause anytime soon.
The story of economic growth generating increased distribution of goods is happening throughout the United States. The result is an increase in road construction projects, both in progress and in their planning stages. As we have stated in previous posts, Traffic safety is paramount around these construction sites for the drivers, passengers, pedestrians and construction workers.
So, road construction projects you are observing may not be solely due to population growth. With Inland Ports being developed in more than a dozen different locations across the United States. road construction projects will continue to increase.