Virginia awarded competitive $15.5 million federal grant for improvements at Virginia Inland Port

RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam announced today that the Port of Virginia was awarded a $15,500,197 federal grant through the highly competitive Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) transportation discretionary grants process. The U.S. Department of Transportation is investing in surface transportation infrastructure through the BUILD program. Grant applicants vied for a total of $1.5 billion in discretionary grant funding for projects supporting roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, or intermodal transportation. The Port of Virginia project was fully funded.

Projects were evaluated based on merit criteria that included safety, economic competitiveness, quality of life, environmental protection, state of good repair, innovation, partnership, and additional non-Federal revenue for future transportation infrastructure investments.

“The Port of Virginia is a critical asset to the Commonwealth that generates jobs and serves as a gateway to global markets,” said Governor Northam. “These improvements will both enhance the safety and increase the capacity of the Virginia Inland Port, allowing the facility to receive Ultra Large Container Vessels and bringing new opportunities for international commerce to Virginia.”

The $15.5 million in BUILD grant funds will be used to build a highway bridge grade separation at the at-grade crossing on State Route 658 (Rockland Road). The project involves constructing a new bridge on State Route 658 that will run above the existing railroad tracks.

The Port is investing a total of $26 million in two projects at the Virginia Inland Port (VIP) designed to improve traffic flow and safety on a local road and expand the terminal’s overall cargo handling capabilities. The projects will be funded through two infrastructure grant programs, one federal and one state.

“The success of our multimodal transportation network depends upon the kind of collaboration that made this grant award possible,” said Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine. “These improvements will allow the Inland Port to more efficiently move international freight to inland markets, opening Virginia’s economy to the world.”

The VIP terminal brings The Port of Virginia 220 miles closer to inland markets and improves service throughout the Capital Region of Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond by providing rail service to the terminals in Hampton Roads. VIP also consolidates and containerizes local cargo for export. As a direct result of the VIP facility opening in 1989 to help better distribute freight inland along highways and railroads, nearly 40 manufacturing and distribution centers have located in the region, creating roughly 8,000 direct and indirect jobs.

U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and U.S. Representatives Barbara Comstock and Bob Goodlatte wrote to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao in support of the BUILD grant application. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Virginia Department of Transportation endorsed the application as well.

“This is a traffic flow and safety concern that is important to the community and we now have the funding to begin addressing this issue—we are grateful for the broad support this grant application received from members of our Congressional delegation, Virginia’s governor, regional economic development authorities, and the business community around VIP,” said CEO and Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority John F. Reinhart. “This is an important step forward in the evolution of the Virginia Inland Port. Our container volumes are growing, and inland destinations like VIP and Richmond Marine Terminal are vital to the efficient and predictable flow of cargo. We are investing now in order to build the port of the future.”

Inside the VIP terminal, the Port is investing $3.3 million, which will be matched by $7.7 million from the state’s Rail Enhancement Fund. The $11-million project will expand capacity and improve cargo flow at VIP. The optimization project consists of building three new railroad tracks on terminal (bringing to eight the total number of railroad tracks at VIP), lengthening the existing track, and purchasing two pieces of hybrid, low-emissions cargo moving equipment.

Virginia Inland Port is located in Front Royal, which is 220 miles northwest of the Norfolk Harbor. The terminal is situated at the intersection of interstates 81 and 66 and is connected by daily train service to the Port’s deep-water terminals in the harbor. The terminal is an important inland destination for container cargo that also helps to drive significant economic investment and job creation in the surrounding community.

The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VPA owns and, through its private operating subsidiary Virginia International Terminals LLC (VIT), operates four general cargo facilities: Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal, and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County. The VPA leases Virginia International Gateway and Richmond Marine Terminal.

A recent economic impact study from The College of William and Mary shows that The Port of Virginia helps to create more than 530,000 jobs and generated $88.4 billion in total economic impact throughout the Commonwealth on an annual basis.