Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Richmond Subregion
Located in central Virginia, the Richmond Subregion is comprised of the Cities of
Richmond, Petersburg, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights; and Charles City, Chesterfield,
Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, and Prince George
Counties. It connects to the national freight transportation system via several highway,
rail, and airport facilities, including; I-64, I-95, I-85, and U.S. 460; Norfolk Southern and
CSX rail facilities; the Port of Richmond; and Richmond International Airport. With its
finance and services sectors commanding a disproportionately large part of its jobs, the
Richmond Subregion’s economy is less dependent than Virginia as a whole on manufacturing. About 67 percent of tonnage moving within the Richmond Subregion is passthrough freight with inbound and outbound freight comprising between 14 and 15 percent
each.
Recommendations to improve the flow of freight through the Richmond Subregion include
widening I-95 between VA 656 and VA 207 north of Richmond and between VA 35 and
I-295 south of Petersburg, constructing the U.S. 460 Expressway between I-295 and the
Suffolk Bypass, and widening various portions of I-64.
Geographic Definition
The Richmond Subregion is located in central Virginia. It consists of the following jurisdictions (see Figure 1):
Cities
•
Colonial Heights
•
Petersburg
•
Hopewell
•
Richmond
Counties
•
Charles City
•
Goochland
•
New Kent
•
Chesterfield
•
Hanover
•
Powhatan
•
Dinwiddie
•
Henrico
•
Prince George
Significant highway freight transportation corridors that intersect with the Richmond
Subregion include U.S. 460, I-64, and I-95. U.S. 460 is an undivided two-lane highway in
the rural areas in western Virginia, largely a four-lane divided highway through the center
of the State, including the Richmond Subregion, and a six-lane highway through portions
of the Hampton Roads area. I-64 is a limited access Interstate highway with four lanes
between West Virginia and Richmond and four to eight lanes at various points between
Richmond and Hampton Roads. I-95 is a four-lane limited access Interstate highway in
southern Virginia, a mostly six-lane Interstate highway through central Virginia, and an
eight or more lane Interstate through northern Virginia.
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Significant rail facilities. CSX’s north-south main line (National Gateway) roughly parallels the I-95 Corridor through the Richmond Subregion. CSX’s main east-west line
passes through Richmond toward Newport News in the east and West Virginia in the
west. Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor runs parallel to U.S. 460 from Hampton
Roads through Petersburg to West Virginia. The Buckingham Branch Railroad parallels
I-95 between for the short distance between Richmond and Doswell before turning west
toward Charlottesville and Clifton Forge.
The Port of Richmond is a 121-acre domestic and international multimodal freight transportation hub on the James River that handles containers, break-bulk, bulk, and livestock
cargo for waterborne, rail, and truck shippers throughout the Mid-Atlantic States. The “64
Express” service makes use of the navigable James River to move containers by barge
between Richmond and Hampton Roads. The Port is owned by the City of Richmond,
managed by the Port of Richmond Commission, and operated by Federal Marine
Terminals, Inc.
Richmond International is the second largest cargo airport in the Commonwealth handling over 30 million pounds of freight in 2006.
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Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Figure 1. Richmond Subregion
Economic Profile
The growth of freight transportation volumes in Virginia and the Richmond Subregion
will be influenced by the interplay of a variety of factors that will have a bearing on transportation demand. These factors include population growth, changes in national and
global logistics patterns, and the evolution of the Subregion’s industry structure.
Industries, ranging from manufacturing to construction and high-tech to finance have
specific freight transportation needs, and their growth will affect freight transportation
demand in the Richmond area. The Richmond area is the third largest urbanized area in
Virginia, following Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads Subregion. At the southernmost end of the Boston-Washington megalopolis, the Richmond area is the hub of
several Interstate and U.S. highways with access to the major population centers of the
Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast. The Richmond Subregion plays a pivotal role in the
Virginia economy, capturing higher education, finance, high-tech electronics, and government. Its central location also makes it a popular location for distribution and ware-
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housing. The Richmond Subregion and its network of major highways, railroads, and
airport make it a crucial component of Virginia’s transportation system and its ability to
carry freight efficiently will affect, positively or negatively, the overall competitiveness of
the State’s economy. The population growth and industry trends that will influence the
freight transportation demands placed on the Richmond Subregion are reviewed in this
section.
Population Growth
Population growth has a direct impact on freight transportation demand and the
Richmond Subregion is one of the faster-growing parts of Virginia. More people take
more trips, require more services, and need more goods to sustain themselves. The
Richmond area is experiencing fairly rapid population growth, 10.0 percent from 2000 to
2007, faster than the Nation’s (+7.2 percent) and the State’s (+9.0 percent). As of 2007, the
Richmond Subregion was home to 1,096,629 residents and accounted for 14.2 percent of
Virginia’s population. According to state population projections, the Richmond Subregion
is expected to add 336,000 people during the next 23 years (see Figure 2) and will reach a
population of 1,432,594 by 2030 (this growth is almost the equivalent to adding the
present-day combined populations of Arlington and Alexandria to the Subregion). The
rate of projected population growth in the Richmond Subregion through 2030 is higher
than either Virginia’s or the Nation’s. The Richmond Subregion will account for about
16 percent of Virginia’s net population gain between now and 2030.
The Richmond Subregion’s pace of population growth puts pressure on its roadways. In
particular, the Subregion must accommodate the mobility, consumer, and logistics needs
of an increasing number of residents, workers, and businesses, and do so reliably, safely,
and efficiently within a densely settled urban environment. For these reasons, the
decision-making process regarding the future of freight transportation related infrastructure and services in the Richmond Subregion needs to incorporate and respond to
generally robust growth conditions.
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Figure 2. Richmond Subregion, Historic and Forecast Population Growth
1990-2030
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
1990
2000
2010
2020
2030
Source: Virginia Employment Commission.
Economic Structure
The Richmond Subregion’s defining economic characteristic compared to the nation and
Virginia is the relative size of financial services sector (banking, insurance, and real estate).
The Richmond area is a recognized national center of banking and insurance, including the
operations of numerous corporate and division headquarters. The Subregion also has a
large construction sector and a professional and business services industry that is much
more concentrated than the Nation’s (though not quite as concentrated as the Virginia average). The Richmond Subregion’s strengths in finance and professional and business services
have helped fuel the Subregion’s faster than average growth. In 2005, financial services
accounted for nine percent of the Subregion’s jobs compared to six percent, respectively, for
both the nation and Virginia. Figure 3 illustrates the contribution of each major sector to
total jobs in the Richmond Subregion and the relatively large size of the area’s financial
services sector can be easily seen. Service industries, including professional and business
services and finance, tend to move smaller, more time-sensitive goods. Trucking and air
transport have historically dominated these types of shipments.
The Richmond
Subregion’s extensive roadway network, Richmond International Airport, and proximity
to major airports in Northern Virginia (Washington-Dulles and Reagan WashingtonNational are both within a 2.5 hour truck trip), provides the Subregion’s businesses with
quick access to markets worldwide, a comparative strength for the movement of goods
and people. Growth in service industries is driven by increasing business and consumer
demand. Businesses require increasingly efficient communication, finance, transportation,
and distribution services in order to develop competitive advantages and as essential
inputs into the production of goods and other services. For consumers, as personal income
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grows so does demand for services such as banking, telecommunications, tourism, and
entertainment.
Figure 3. Economic Structure
Shares of Employment by Major Industry Sector,
United States, Virginia and the Richmond Subregion
Industry Share of Total Employment
25%
Freight Intensive
20%
Goods Movement
15%
Retail
10%
5%
0%
Educational
Wholesale
Natural
Construction
Retail
Manufacturing
Other
and Health
Trade
Resources
Trade
Services
Services
and Mining
Government
Professional
Leisure and
Financial
Transportation
and Business
Hospitality
Activities
Information
and Utilities
Unclassified
Services
Percent of U.S. Employment
Percent of VA Employment
Percent of Richmond Employment
Source: Virginia Employment Commission and U.S. Department of Labor.
The Subregion’s population growth stimulates the construction of new commercial, residential, and government buildings, as well as expanded infrastructure. Although construction has slowed significantly due to the current drop-off in home building, the
Richmond Subregion, as a locus for much of the State’s long-term population growth, will
continue to support a strong construction sector in future years. Construction depends on
the reliability of the roadway system to ensure on-time deliveries of building materials.
Congestion can undermine the sequencing of projects and long delays can ruin batches of
cement that have tight delivery windows.
With its finance and services sectors commanding a disproportionately large part of its
jobs, the Richmond Subregion’s economy is less dependent than the U.S. and Virginia
economies on manufacturing. However, several areas, including the cities of Richmond,
Hopewell, and Petersburg as well as Prince George and Dinwiddie Counties, have more
concentrated manufacturing industries.
Leading manufacturing industries in the
Subregion include electronics, tobacco, printing, and pharmaceuticals. Manufacturing is
more dependent on transportation than most other industry sectors and counts on the
reliability and connectivity provided by the road, air, and rail networks to produce and
deliver products. Manufacturers keep inventories low to reduce costs and this requires a
dependable, multimodal supply chain. The transportation connectivity provided by the
Richmond Subregion’s roadways, railways, and airport is crucial to the success and competitiveness of the Subregion’s and many of the State’s manufacturers.
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Concentration of Goods Movement and Freight-Intensive Industries
The relationship between freight transportation activity and the Richmond Subregion’s
economy is strong and multifaceted. For example, “freight-intensive” industries, including
manufacturing,
construction,
and agriculture rely heavily on
Freight-Related Clusters
the efficient movement of
goods, both for the outbound
While an efficient multimodal transportation system is
important to every sector of the economy, certain
shipments of their products to
sectors are particularly dependent on the transportation
reach worldwide markets, as
system for freight movement. These sectors are
well as for inbound shipments
grouped into three clusters as defined below:
of intermediate goods required
for production. These freightFreight-Intensive Industries includes most subsectors
intensive industries contributed
within natural resources and mining, all construction,
some 65,000 jobs to the area in
and manufacturing.
2005, accounting for 16 percent
of the Virginia total (see
Goods Movement includes the wholesale trade sector
Figure 4). In addition to freight
and some subsectors within transportation and utilities.
transportation’s importance to
Retail Trade includes all subsectors within the retail
these
freight-intensive
trade sector.
industries, efficient multimodal
freight transportation systems
can help to minimize the cost of consumer goods, benefiting consumers and the retail
industry.
In 2005, the Richmond Subregion included some 63,000 retail jobs.
Transportation infrastructure improvements that reduce costs by either: 1) lowering travel
times; or by 2) increasing the reliability of on-time shipments translate directly into
benefits for the Richmond and Virginia economies. Finally, the “goods movement”
industry (e.g., trucking, distribution, rail, airports, etc.) also provides a significant number
of jobs and income to Richmond Subregion residents working for the businesses that
process, ship, and deliver goods bound for destinations within Virginia, as well as to other
locations within the United States and throughout the world. The goods movement
industry employed nearly 33,000 people in the Richmond area in 2005. The Richmond
Subregion includes several major distribution facilities for consumer products, food, and
electronics companies. Combined, the freight-intensive, retail, and goods movement
industries account for 30 percent of total Richmond area employment, slightly lower than
the 31 percent average for Virginia, overall (see Figure 5).
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Figure 4. Employment by Freight-Related Cluster
in the Richmond Subregion and Virginia
Employment
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
Freight Intensive Industries
Goods Movement
Richmond Employment
Retail
VA Employment
Source: Virginia Employment Commission.
Figure 5. Share of Employment
by Cluster
Richmond Subregion
Retail
12%
Figure 6. Share of Employment
by Cluster
Virginia
Freight
Intensive
Industries
12%
Retail
13%
Goods
Movement
6%
Remaining
Industries
70%
Freight
Intensive
Industries
13%
Goods
Movement
5%
Remaining
Industries
69%
Source: Virginia Employment Commission.
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Commodity Profile
The two primary measures of freight transportation activity are tonnage and value. Value
is a good indicator of economic activity associated with freight transportation, while tonnage is a good indicator of the demand that freight movement places on transportation
infrastructure.
Freight also moves in different directions:
•
Inbound freight is moved from somewhere outside of the Richmond Subregion to a
destination within the Richmond Subregion.
•
Outbound freight is moved from somewhere within the Richmond Subregion to a
destination outside of the Richmond Subregion.
•
Internal freight is moved from one point within the Richmond Subregion to another
point within the Richmond Subregion.
•
Pass-through freight is moving from an origin outside of the Richmond Subregion to a
destination outside the Richmond Subregion while at some point passing through the
Subregion.
Figures 7 and 8 show that about 73 percent of the total tonnage moving into, out of, within,
or through the Richmond Subregion is hauled by trucks with most of the remaining
hauled by rail. A large majority of the value (99 percent) is hauled by trucks.
Figure 7. Mode Share of Total Corridor
Freight Tonnage
2004
Water
1.0%
Truck
73.1%
Air
0.0%
Figure 8. Mode Share of Total
Corridor Freight Value
2004
Water
0.2%
Air
0.1%
Truck
99.0%
Rail
0.7%
Rail
25.9%
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Figures 9 and 10 describe the direction of travel for Virginia’s domestic commodities
within the Richmond Subregion, based on tonnage and on value.
Figure 9. Directional Proportion of Total
Corridor Freight Tonnage
2004
Figure 10. Directional Proportion of Total
Corridor Freight Value
2004
Through
67.0%
Through
72.3%
Inbound
14.8%
Inbound
11.8%
Outbound
14.5%
Outbound
14.2%
Internal
1.4%
Internal
4.0%
By tonnage, the leading commodities moving domestically are nonmetallic minerals and
secondary traffic (U.S. warehouse and distribution), followed by chemicals and allied
products; coal; and clay, concrete, glass and stone. By value, secondary traffic is by far the
leading commodity, followed by transportation equipment.
Table 1. Critical Commodities Inbound, Outbound, and
Internal for the Richmond Subregion by Tons
2004
Commodity
Tons
Percent Share
Nonmetallic Minerals
26,233,120
28%
Secondary Moves
13,938,896
15%
Chemicals/Allied
7,202,784
8%
Coal
5,974,697
6%
Clay/Concrete/Glass/Stone
5,594,368
6%
All Others
34,043,206
37%
Total
92,987,071
100%
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Table 2. Critical Commodities Inbound, Outbound, and
Internal for the Richmond Subregion by Value
2004
Commodity
Dollars
Percent Share
Secondary Moves
$91,101,439,335
49%
Transportation Equipment
$23,556,516,666
13%
Tobacco
$13,382,308,288
7%
Chemicals/Allied
$11,486,817,078
6%
Electrical Machinery/Equipment/
Supplies
$6,192,022,773
3%
All Others
$41,467,027,430
22%
Total
$187,186,131,570
100%
For trade in Virginia’s critical commodities – that is, inbound and outbound tonnage,
excluding pass-through traffic – the leading trading partner regions are mainly within the
Commonwealth followed by the southern east coast states and the Illinois/Indiana/Ohio/
Michigan region.
Table 3. Trading Partners by Tonnage for the Richmond Subregion
Domestic Inbound and Outbound
2004
Partner Region
Tons
Percent
Rest of Virginia
40,978,384
52%
South Atlantic
12,865,149
16%
East North Central
5,675,716
7%
East South Central
5,492,361
7%
Middle Atlantic
5,226,663
7%
New England
3,495,125
4%
West South Central
2,243,065
3%
West North Central
755,759
1%
Mountain
731,862
1%
Canada/Mexico
703,591
1%
All Others
645,171
1%
78,812,846
100%
Grand Total
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Table 4. Trading Partners by Value for the Richmond Subregion
Domestic Inbound and Outbound
2004
Partner Region
Dollars
Percent
Rest of Virginia
$78,680,456,591
44%
South Atlantic
$28,948,239,605
16%
East North Central
$17,232,576,965
10%
East South Central
$12,032,393,407
7%
Middle Atlantic
$11,755,726,057
7%
New England
$11,096,161,168
6%
West South Central
$8,050,290,915
5%
Europe
$3,224,199,915
2%
West North Central
$2,743,787,396
2%
Pacific
$1,506,799,488
1%
All Others
$2,557,583,892
1%
$177,828,215,398
100%
Grand Total
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Transportation System Facilities and Performance
The Richmond Subregion contains an extensive highway and freight rail network with
centers of activity along I-95 at Richmond and Petersburg. The Subregion includes an air
cargo and a port facility as shown in Table 5.
Table 5. Richmond Subregion Intermodal Connections
Significant Roadway Connections
•
I-64
•
I-85
•
I-95
•
I-195
•
I-295
•
U.S. 1
•
U.S. 33
•
U.S. 60
•
U.S. 250
•
U.S. 301
•
U.S. 360
•
U.S. 460
•
U.S. 522
Significant Airport Connections
• Richmond International
Airport
Significant Port Connections
•
Port of Richmond
Highway
Significant highway freight corridors that intersect with the Richmond Subregion include
U.S. 460, I-64, and I-95. U.S. 460 is an undivided two-lane highway in the rural areas in
western Virginia, largely a four-lane divided highway through the center of the State, and
a six-lane highway through portions of the Hampton Roads area. I-64 is a limited access
Interstate highway with four lanes between West Virginia and Richmond and four to eight
lanes at various points between Richmond and Hampton Roads. I-95 is a four-lane limited
access Interstate highway in southern Virginia, a mostly six-lane Interstate highway
through central Virginia, and an eight or more lane Interstate through northern Virginia.
The number of lanes, along with roadway geometry, intersection spacing, etc., determine
how much traffic a given roadway segment can accommodate in a given period of time
and provides a sense of the capacity of the roadway. A summary of the lane widths of
these three highways within the Subregion is shown in Table 6.
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Table 6. Richmond Subregion Summary of Lane Widths
Route – Section
Length (Miles)
Width (Total Lanes)
U.S. 460 – Prince George County
11.5
4
U.S. 460 – City of Petersburg
7.3
4
U.S. 460 – Dinwiddie County
27.2
4
I-64 – Henrico County
21.4
4– 6
I-64 – City of Richmond
6.7
4– 8
I-64 – Goochland County
14.3
4
I-95 – Prince George County
12.2
4
I-95 – City of Petersburg
5.1
4
I-95 – City of Colonial Heights
3.0
6
I-95 – Chesterfield County
11.6
6
I-95 – City of Richmond
11.2
6
I-95 – Henrico County
5.9
6
I-95 – Hanover County
21.3
6
Virginia maintains a statewide vehicle count program on its major highways, including
collection and/or estimation of truck counts and percentages. Figure 11 displays the
average Virginia AADT (all vehicle types) as columns, and the corresponding average
truck percentages as points.
Figure 11. Average AADT and Truck Percentages
18%
140,000
16%
120,000
14%
100,000
12%
80,000
10%
60,000
8%
6%
40,000
4%
20,000
0
2%
U.S. 460 –
I-64 –
I-64 –
I-95 –
I-95 –
I-95 –
City of
City of
Dinwiddie
New Kent
City of
Hanover
County
County
Richmond
County
Richmond
Petersburg
U.S. 460 –
U.S. 460 –
I-64 –
I-64 – Goochland
I-95 –
I-95 –
Prince
City of
Henrico
County
Henrico
Chesterfield
George
Petersburg
County
County
County
County
Weighted AADT
Part III – Richmond - Page 14
0%
I-95 –
Prince
George
County
Total CU Truck Percent
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Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Table 7 describes average bridge and pavement condition and performance across selected
Richmond Subregion highway segments. The reference “IRI” stands for the International
Roughness Index. It measures the cumulative deviation from a smooth surface in inches
per mile – in other words, the sum of all the up-and-down road imperfections, from
potholes to barely noticeable bumps or road roughness, which a vehicle will encounter
over one mile. The ranges of values correspond to the pavement condition as follows:
very good (0 to 85); good (86 to 110); fair (111 to 140); poor (141 to 175); very poor (more
than 175). There also are road condition measures that apply to bridges; as presented in
the National Bridge Inventory, “red” is the lowest of the three levels of “General Condition
Ratings” that can be assigned to a bridge.
Table 7. Richmond Subregion Road Condition
by Jurisdiction
2003 Weighted IRI
Percent of Bridges in “Red”
Condition
U.S. 460 – Prince George County
119
0%
U.S. 460 – City of Petersburg
258
0%
U.S. 460 – Dinwiddie County
150
0%
I-64 – Goochland County
87
0%
I-64 – City of Richmond
218
0%
I-64 – Henrico County
167
0%
I-95 – Prince George County
91
0%
I-95 – City of Petersburg
94
0%
I-95 – Chesterfield County
84
0%
I-95 – City of Colonial Heights
84
0%
I-95 – Henrico County
108
0%
I-95 – City of Richmond
97
4%
I-95 – Hanover County
87
0%
Route – Jurisdiction
Another important aspect of a freight transportation system is its intermodal terminal
network. These facilities provide the interface between freight rail and other transportation modes, including highway and water, and permit the transfer of goods from one
mode to another. The figure below displays the rail-highway intermodal terminals within
the Richmond Subregion, as well as additional system facilities.
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Figure 12. Richmond Subregion Intermodal Facilities
Rail
The Commonwealth of Virginia’s rail system is operated by 10 freight railroads and two
passenger operators. Of the 9 freight railroads, two are Class I national railroads and the
remaining eight are Class III or terminal/switching railroads (see table).
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Table 8. Virginia’s Freight Railroads
Freight Railroad Name
Class I
Class III
Terminal/
Switching
Miles Operated
in Virginia
Norfolk Southern Corporation
√
2,100
CSX Transportation
√
1,051
Buckingham Branch Railroad
√
278
Bay Coast Railroad
√
68
Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad
√
29
Winchester and Western Railroad
√
26
Commonwealth Railway, Inc.
√
17
North Carolina and Virginia Railroad
√
4
Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line
√
4
The majority of Virginia’s freight rail track infrastructure is in the possession of the two
Class I railroads, Norfolk Southern (approximately 60 percent) and CSX (approximately
30 percent). CSX’s north-south main line (National Gateway) roughly parallels the I-95
Corridor through the Richmond Subregion. CSX’s main east-west line passes through
Richmond toward Newport News in the east and West Virginia in the west. Norfolk
Southern’s Heartland Corridor runs parallel to U.S. 460 from Hampton Roads through
Petersburg to West Virginia. The Buckingham Branch Railroad parallels I-95 between for
the short distance between Richmond and Doswell before turning west toward
Charlottesville and Clifton Forge.
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Bottlenecks
Virginia’s freight transportation system contains segments that are stressed or over capacity
to the point that they are defined as bottlenecks. Bottlenecks – whether existing or
emerging – prohibit the efficient flow of freight through the system and across the
Commonwealth. Currently, Virginia’s primary freight transportation bottlenecks generally
correspond to:
•
Major urbanized regions with high levels of congestion;
•
Intersections of major highway arteries; and
•
Rail system points where infrastructure provides inadequate freight transportation
capacity or dimension, especially where growing freight and passenger needs must be
accommodated over shared infrastructure.
Much of I-95 in the Richmond Subregion is considered a freight transportation bottleneck
as is the Norfolk Southern main line (Heartland Corridor) through the southern portion of
the Subregion. The CSX north-south main line (National Gateway) north of Richmond and
the CSX east-west main line west of Richmond also are considered freight transportation
bottlenecks. These are shown in red and blue respectively in Figure 13.
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Figure 13. Richmond Area Transportation Bottlenecks
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Waterways and Ports
The Port of Richmond is a 121-acre domestic and international multimodal freight transportation hub on the James River that handles containers, break-bulk, bulk, and livestock
cargo for waterborne, rail, and truck shippers throughout the Mid-Atlantic States. The “64
Express” service makes use of the navigable James River to move containers by barge
between Richmond and Hampton Roads. The Port is owned by the City of Richmond,
managed by the Port of Richmond Commission, and operated by Federal Marine
Terminals, Inc.
Distribution Centers
Virginia has experienced marked growth in large-scale warehousing development often
associated with high-volume, or “big box” importers. These importers’ supply chains are
highly dependent upon the uninterrupted flow of cargo – primarily containerized –
through Virginia’s ports, and subsequently through its highways and rail connections.
Eight major distribution centers are located within the Richmond Subregion. Hewlett
Packard and Richfood Holdings have the largest distribution centers in the Subregion at
1,440,000 and 1,300,000 square feet respectively, with Wal-Mart, Inc. and Food Lion providing 1,200,000 each. The other major distribution centers have between 120,000 and
800,000 square feet as shown in Table 9.
Table 9. Richmond Subregion Warehouse and Distribution Facilities
Company
Location
Area (Square Feet)
Country Vintner
Ashland
120,000
Richfood Holdings Inc.
Richmond
1,300,000
Hewlett Packard
Richmond
1,440,000
DSC Logistics
Richmond
700,000
Food Lion
Hopewell
1,200,000
Ace Hardware
Prince George
800,000
Wal-Mart Inc.
Petersburg
1,200,000
ACE Hardware
Petersburg
800,000
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Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Air Cargo
Richmond International is the second largest cargo airport in the Commonwealth handling
over 30 million pounds of freight in 2006 as shown in Table 10.
Table 10. Cargo Airport Performance
Airports
Richmond International Airport
(RIC)
2006 Freight Pounds
Percent Change versus 2005
30,106,039
+6.90%
Alternative Scenarios
The Virginia Statewide Model (VSM) was run several times to estimate future freight
transportation activities through Virginia. Each run used the same algorithm to process a
different set of input parameters. These runs included a “base case” which estimated
freight transportation activity in 2035 assuming no improvements in the highway or rail
network. The output from this run provides a baseline to which the results of the
remaining runs are compared. The final three runs, Scenarios A, B, and C, each represent
different sets of roadway, rail, and marine improvements as well as travel pattern adjustments. Scenario A generally reflects the situation in the year 2035 given that only certain
projects identified in the six-year improvement program are implemented. Scenario B
includes everything from Scenario A plus key improvements from the Virginia 2025 State
Highway Plan and a draft version of the 2035 State Highway Plan. Scenario C included
everything from Scenario B plus implementation of other important freight transportation
related projects and policies. Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) projects are
included in the scenarios as well. A description of the types of improvements included in
each scenario is provided below.
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Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Scenario A
• Highway – Improvements
identified in the Virginia Six-Year
Plan dated February 2009 that:
(1) Add significant capacity
(generally those that add at least
one-lane mile to the facility); and
(2) Are located on any of the 11
freight corridors. No distinction
was made between projects funded
for preliminary engineering, rightof-way, or construction.
• Rail – Improvements to:
(1) Completion of Heartland Corridor
project.
(2) Relocate Commonwealth Railway
mainline tracks to the medians of
I-664 and the Western Freeway
(Route 164); and
(3) Other Virginia Port Authority
CIP projects.
• Port – Miscellaneous improvements
by the Virginia
Port Authority to support
anticipated growth.
• Airport – None.
Scenario B
• Highway – All highway
improvements in Scenario A plus
selected improvements from the
VDOT 2025 State Highway Plan
and from a preliminary draft
version of the VDOT 2035 State
Highway Plan that:
(1) Add significant capacity
(generally those that add at least
one-lane mile to the facility); and
(2) Are located on any of the 11
freight corridors.
• Rail – All rail improvements
from Scenario A.
• Port – All port improvements
from Scenario A.
• Airport – None.
Scenario C
• Highway – All highway
improvements in Scenarios A
and B plus the following:
(1) Hampton Roads Third Crossing;
(2) U.S. 460 Expressway between
U.S. 58 Bypass
and I-295;
(3) Capacity improvements on U.S. 17
and U.S. 29 near Warrenton;
(4) U.S. 58 “Hillsville Bypass”; and
(5) Tolling/pricing actions to shift
time-of-day and/or mode choice
decisions (also impacts rail mode).
• Rail – All rail improvements
in Scenarios A and B plus the
following:
(1) Crescent Corridor and National
Gateway projects;
(2) Short-haul rail projects to relieve
Hampton Roads congestion;
(3) Highway tolling/pricing actions to
shift mode choice decisions; and
(4) Craney Island on-dock rail and
connection projects (also impacts
port mode).
• Port – All port improvements in
Scenarios A and B plus the
following:
(1) Short-haul barge projects to relieve
Hampton Roads congestion; and
(2) Craney Island on-dock rail and
connection projects (also impacts
rail mode).
• Airport – Full build-out of the
airports’ master plans and
implementation of the Virginia Air
Transportation System Plan
recommendations.
The projects included in Scenarios A, B, and C are highlighted in Figure 14.
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Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Figure 14. Future Improvements to Selected Facilities in the Richmond
Subregion
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Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Key Project Recommendations
Key recommendations for projects located within the Richmond Subregion include:
High-Priority Projects:
•
•
Widen I-95 to six lanes between VA 35 and I-295 in Prince George County. This
portion of I-95 experiences a high percentage of combination unit (CU) trucks. This,
combined with the background traffic associated with its proximity to the cities of
Petersburg and Richmond as well as to the I-95/I-295 diverge, causes high levels of
congestion. Expanding I-95 in this area will alleviate this freight bottleneck.
•
Widen I-95 to eight lanes between VA 656 and VA 207 in Hanover and Caroline
Counties. This portion of I-95 from Richmond north is a bottleneck. It experiences
high truck volumes and background traffic levels. Expanding this section to eight
lanes will alleviate this freight transportation bottleneck.
•
Widen I-64 from VA 617 to I-295. I-64 is a major east-west freight transportation
route through Richmond. Traffic volumes range from 60,000 to 65,000 on these
segments with combination-unit truck percentages in the 11.5 percent range.
Widening this roadway will reduce congestion and improve safety.
•
Construct the U.S. 460 Expressway between I-295 near Petersburg and the City of
Suffolk. U.S. 460 between the Suffolk bypass and I-295 has very heavy truck
volumes and is a key freight transportation route between the Port areas of Hampton
Roads and the Richmond Subregion. It also is a key freight transportation route to
I-95 and points north. This new limited access expressway will improve freight
transportation efficiency into and out of the Hampton Roads area and between
Hampton Roads and Richmond.
•
Implement CSX’s National Gateway project. The National Gateway is a coordinated program of multistate improvements to CSX rail lines aimed at improving
double-stack rail connections between Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern markets.
•
Implement Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor project. This project will
improve the economic competitiveness of the Richmond Subregion and of the
Commonwealth as a whole.
A more detailed description of the freight transportation projects identified for the
Richmond Subregion is provided in Table 11.
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Table 11. Richmond Subregion Project List
Impact on Freight
Transportation
Activitya
Scenario
Included in
Freight
Plan?
Project Description
From
To
Distance
(Miles)
Route 460 Expressway
I-295
Suffolk CL
52.900
High
C
Yes
I-64
Rural 6 Lane with
Median
Route 617
Eastbound Route 288
On Ramp
7.710
High
B
Yes
I-64
Widen from 4 to 6 Lanes
0.990 Mile West of
Route 623
0.380 Mile West of
Route I-295
4.520
High
A
Yes
I-64
Rural 8 Lane with
Median
Eastbound Route 288 On
Ramp
I-295
2.980
High
B
Yes
I-64
Widen Eastbound
Direction to 4 Lanes
Staples Mill Road
I-95 North
1.660
Low
B
I-64
Urban 8 Lane with
Median
I-95 South
Route 360
1.920
Medium
B
I-64
Pavement Rehab and
Widening
1.00 Mile West of Airport
Drive
1.00 Mile East of I-295
4.900
High
B
I-64
Rural 6 Lane with
Median
Airport Drive
I-295
3.150
Medium
B
I-64
Rural 8 Lane with
Median
I-295
Route 33 Westbound
4.600
High
B
I-64
Pavement Rehab and
Widening
1.00 Mile East of I-295
1.00 Mile East of
Route 249
4.600
Medium
B
I-64
Pavement Rehab and
Widening
1.00 Mile East of
Route 249
Route 199/Newman
Road
29.800
High
B
Yes
I-95
Rural 6 Lane with
Median
Route 35 Southbound On
Ramp
I-295
5.590
High
B
Yes
I-95
Rural 8 Lane with
Median
Route 656
Route 54
5.040
High
B
Yes
Route
U.S. 460b
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Yes
Yes
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Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Route
I-95
Impact on Freight
Transportation
Activitya
Scenario
Included in
Freight
Plan?
High
B
Yes
National Gateway
High
C
Yes
Heartland Corridor
High
A
Yes
Short Haul “Sprint
Trains”
High
C
Yes
Marine Highway Service
Expansion
High
C
Yes
Project Description
From
To
Distance
(Miles)
Rural 8 Lane with
Median
Route 54
Route 30
6.050
a: The impact on freight transportation activity column indicates the relative impact a given project has on freight mobility as compared to
the relative impact it has on mobility in general. It consists of three categories:
High – these projects provide a greater relative impact to the important activity of moving freight than other projects considered.
Medium – these projects benefit both freight and non-freight transportation activity to an important degree.
Low – while valuable to both freight and non-freight transportation activity, these projects have a lower relative impact on freight
transportation activity than those in the medium- or high-level categories.
b: A portion of relocated U.S. 460 Expressway is located within the Richmond Subregion – the planned expressway continues to Suffolk.
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Virginia Statewide Multimodal Freight Study, Final Report, 2010
Conclusions
The primary conclusions of the Richmond Subregion freight profile are:
•
The highest priority freight transportation infrastructure recommendations for the
Subregion include the widening of I-95 and I-64, the construction of the U.S. 460
Expressway, and the implementation of the National Gateway and Heartland Corridor
projects (see recommendations section for details).
•
I-95 is a freight transportation bottleneck throughout the Richmond Subregion and
beyond.
•
Combined, the freight-intensive, retail, and goods movement industries account for a
slightly lower proportion of total Richmond area employment than is the case for
Virginia as a whole. This is due to the relatively larger size of its financial services
sector.
•
Over 73 percent of the total freight tonnage (inbound, outbound, internal, and through)
moving within the Subregion is hauled by truck with just under 26 percent hauled by
rail. Over 65 percent of the total freight tonnage moving within the Subregion is
through traffic.
•
The key highway freight corridors within the Subregion are I-64, I-95, and U.S. 460.
The pavement conditions on these roadways are described below.
•
•
I-64 is in good condition in Goochland County and in poor or very poor condition in
Henrico County and the City of Richmond.
•
I-95 is in good or very good condition in Chesterfield County, Goochland County
and the City of Colonial Heights; in fair condition in Prince George County; and in
poor condition in the Cities of Petersburg and Richmond.
•
U.S. 460 is in fair condition in Prince George County, in poor condition in Dinwiddie
County, and in very poor condition in the City of Petersburg.
Richmond International is the second largest cargo airport in the Commonwealth
handling over 30 million pounds of freight in 2006.
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Part III – Richmond - Page 27