Kansas Department of Transportation s 5-County Regional Transportation Study Freight Movement Working Group Meeting

Transcription

1 Kansas Department of Transportation s 5-County Regional Transportation Study Freight Movement Working Group Meeting April 3, :30-10:30 am Gardner City Hall- Council Chambers 120 E. Main St. Gardner, KS Working Group members in attendance Keith Browning, Douglas County David Dillner, City of Edgerton Darryl Fields, Mid-America Regional Council Fred Sherman, City of Gardner ATTENDEES KDOT, MARC 1, and Lawrence-Douglas County MPO 2 Staff/Study Consultants in attendance: Earl Bosak, Kansas Department of Transportation Al Cathcart, Olsson Associates Thomas Dow, Kansas Department of Transportation Todd Girdler, Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization Mell Henderson, Mid-America Regional Council John Maddox, Kansas Department of Transportation Erin Ollig, Shockey Consulting Services David Schwartz, Kansas Department of Transportation Sheila Shockey, Shockey Consulting Services Jim Tobaben, Parsons Brinckerhoff Other people in attendance: Doug Wood, Johnson County Board of Commissioners 1 MARC: Mid-America Regional Council 2 MPO: Metropolitan Planning Organization Meeting_Notes_FreightWG_040309_FINAL 1/6

2 MEETING NOTES I WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS Thomas Dow, Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) State Transportation Planner, welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked for the group to introduce themselves. II FUTURE PHILOSOPHIES ACTIVITY Sheila Shockey, Shockey Consulting Services, led the Panelists through an exercise that asks them to envision newspaper headlines for what the transportation system might look like in While the participants shared their headlines, Ms. Shockey recorded some common themes that were brought up. These themes will combine with the themes of the other three working group s responses. A vision statement will then be drafted once all meetings have taken place. The themes for the Freight Movement Working Group included: World-class transit (clean, highly used, bus rapid transit) No at-grade railroad crossings Air travel increase Commuter rail (Topeka, Lawrence, Kansas City) High-speed rail (Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis) Funded programs Support for outer loop Opposition to outer loop Oil is not the fuel of choice Clean air Train traffic moves economy Intermodal Longer trains (2-3 miles long) South Lawrence Trafficway stalls South Lawrence Trafficway environmentally friendly mitigation Managed lanes Safe roads Truck-only lanes North-south quick route to I-70/I-35 Missouri River freight corridors K-10 to Kansas Turnpike New Kansas River crossing US-56 Highway improvements from I- 35 to US-59 Highway Advanced technology (i.e. self-repairing asphalt) Economic development Cost-effective, safe freight movement Bi-state cooperation Off-peak truck delivery system Multiple freight logistics parks (supports economic growth) I-35 multi-modal corridor (truck only, high-occupancy vehicle lanes, pricing, bus-rapid transit, commuter rail) Meeting_Notes_FreightWG_040309_FINAL 2/6

3 III STUDY UPDATE Jim Tobaben gave participants a brief introduction into the roles and responsibilities that are desired from the working group participants from the Stakeholder Guide. He reminded the participants that as part of the 5-County Study, four working groups have been formed, consisting of informed stakeholders with technical expertise. The information discussed at the working group meetings will be shared with the Stakeholder Advisory Panel to help them have a better understanding of the long-term transportation requirements and appropriate goals. Technical data and public outreach information will be provided to each working group. The Freight Movement Working Group will: Examine Future of Freight Transportation Examine Current Issues Provide Input on Criteria to Prioritize Projects Mr. Tobaben then discussed some of the freight movement comments that were received at the Transportation Summit in December. Those comments include: Leavenworth County Need a new road to connect the future BNSF facility to I-70 and Leavenworth Widen US-24/40 Truck volumes in Leavenworth are an issue sometimes Douglas County Complete the South Lawrence Trafficway Expand rail service to future regional landfill Improve US-56 Highway Johnson County I-35 capacity improvements At-grade rail separations in Gardner, Olathe, and Edgerton Travel impacted by truck traffic Miami County Shoulder widening needed on K-68 Wyandotte County No freight-related comments Meeting_Notes_FreightWG_040309_FINAL 3/6

4 More generally, people are concerned with the growing impacts of train and truck volumes, the impacts of roadway congestion, the truck impacts on road conditions, the impacts on the environment, the need for truck-only lanes, and safety (truck-car conflicts and rail-highway grade crossings). Participant Question: Did the east river crossing in Lawrence come up at the Community Dialogue meetings? Response: No, but some comments on that were received as part of the Kaw Connects Study. The City of Eudora brought it up though. They think that maybe it should be located further east than Lawrence; maybe more towards Johnson County. Participant Comment: Many possibilities for the location of that road have been brought up for the past 30 years. Participant Comment: K-68 in Miami County is already mostly improved. Much of the highway is already 65 mph. West of Louisburg though, not so much. Participant Question: Are people talking about the truck traffic impacts a they relate to travel times or safety? Response: Both; usually the conversation steers towards fixes such as truck-only lanes. Mr. Tobaben asked the participants if there were other issues that have not yet been mentioned. Economic impacts; congestion adds to the cost of distribution Regional coordination on impacts (Missouri and Kansas); there are land use and economic impacts Need to think about what it means to help our regional economy; are we just a conduit to the nation s economy? What is our immediate benefit? o That may be more of an issue with truck-only lanes May not have as much long-haul truck traffic if diesel prices increase like gas has Need to consider the true movement of freight- what are the current and future needs for industries in our area? KDOT Staff Response: The current KDOT Statewide Freight Study is looking at trends. Just-intime 3 is a major consideration on the truck side. Separately from this study we have looked at levels of truck traffic at various prices of fuel. 3 Just-in-time: The system of inventory control in which goods arrive when they are needed in the production process. This is done to reduce the need for storage capacity and the attached costs. Meeting_Notes_FreightWG_040309_FINAL 4/6

5 Participant Comment: We need to look at how they will all work together. Participant Comment: We may begin to see more distribution of goods by rail and then only some on truck if gas prices go back up. That will dictate our land use and our highways and distribution systems. That would also have an impact on the possibility of commuter rail. KDOT Staff Response: We have challenges with predicting where development is and we end up having to react. It s hard to engage the private sector. Participant Comment: Perhaps you need to reach out to their land use attorneys instead of the executives. Participant Comment: We need more cooperation between jurisdictions and legislators (policy-makers). We need to develop ideas to incentivize these topics (i.e. land use planning). Mr. Tobaben continued by listing some of the information that will be shared with the Freight Movement Working Group at their next meeting: KDOT Freight Study data (at least preliminary report), KDOT Freight Summit results, maps of rail and roadway systems, and land use maps. He asked the participants if there was any other information that they would like to have to help make more informed decisions. What is happening with freight today Who uses what; what businesses in the area use transit What will the existing distribution centers do? Will they move closer to the intermodal facilities? Switching rail roads and short-line rail roads Level of infrastructure investment that would be needed to upgrade certain facilities (i.e. location of the new I-35 interchange) Participant Comment: Existing freight centers will be predominant; don t lose sight of maintaining what we have. Staff Response: Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) may have the regional data on freight zones (a snapshot of freight). MARC may also have the data on who uses what. Participant Comment: We have to assume that some existing facilities will relocated to the intermodal facilities. Meeting_Notes_FreightWG_040309_FINAL 5/6

6 Participant Question: Has anyone heard if Union Pacific (UP) plans to build another intermodal facility nearby? Response: Have heard Denver. They have a small one currently north of downtown Kansas City Missouri. Response: If they built one in the area, it would have to be north of the metropolitan area near Linwood and Tonganoxie. That would have a big impact on Leavenworth County s currently planned highway improvements. Participant Comment: Maybe we need to guide where that might take place. We can at least plan as if it may occur. Participant Comment: Also need to think about future air freight expansion at New Century. Participant Comment: That was brought up in the past, but talks about backed off. Participant Comment: KCI is currently doing a major freight expansion. IV CRITERIA FOR SETTING FUTURE PRIORITIES Jim Tobaben stated that we want the working group participants help in deciding what we should do. He stated that this will be discussed more at the next meeting, but asked if there were any preliminary thoughts on priorities for the transportation system. It s difficult to understand the scale and agency role and limitations. o Who is going to implement it? Especially across jurisdictions and county lines. Participant Question: Has any criteria been developed for truck-only lanes? What is driving that discussion? Response: The Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) has only figured out if it s technically feasible, not if they should do it or if it s financially feasible. V NEXT MEETING & CONVENE The next meeting date will be announced by . The meeting adjourned at 10:15 am. Meeting_Notes_FreightWG_040309_FINAL 6/6