Central Georgia corridor study... keeping business moving in Georgia [Vol. 1, no. 1 (Feb. 2001)]

Georgia Department of Transportation
No. 2 Capitol Square Atlanta, GA 30334-1002
Phone: 404-656-5360 Fax: 404-657-5228
Email: www.dot.state.ga.us

Mailing Address Line 1 Mailing Address Line 2 Mailing Address Line 3 Mailing Address Line 4

Project Kick-Off Meetings a Success

In October 2000, three kick-off meetings were held in communities along the study corridor Montezuma, McRae and Statesboro. The meetings were designed to provide a forum to discuss transportation and economics in central Georgia. We were very pleased with the attendance of nearly 100 people at these meetings. The project team shared several key pieces of information during the presentation portion of the meetings. Please check the website for more details. Several common themes emerged from the meetings regarding:
1) The importance of good access and an efficient transportation system in attracting and retaining industries and sustaining economic competitiveness. 2) The lack of continuous, high-capacity east-west infrastructure as a constraint to economic growth, particularly in the southern portion of the study area. 3) The importance of technological infrastructure in the economic future of central Georgia. 4) The need for new and creative funding to support transportation system needs.
There are several upcoming opportunities for the project team to share information and listen to your ideas. Here are some of the upcoming events where we hope to see you!

Public Involvement Schedule
Stakeholder Meetings
March 2001 July 2001 March 2002
Public Information Meetings
July 2001 March 2002
Local Government Meetings
October 2000 April 2001 August 2001 April 2002
Newsletters
December 2000 April 2001 August 2001 April 2002

Central Georgia Corridor Study
HPC6 and US 280

...keeping business moving in Georgia

To You, Our Partners
Transportation improvements play an important role in maintaining and improving the economic health and well being of Georgia. We recognize the importance of this relationship, particularly in our rural areas of the state. Georgia was recently awarded a National Corridor Planning and Development Grant (NCPD) by the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin an exciting and comprehensive multi-year economic, freight and transportation infrastructure study focusing on central Georgia. As part of this study, we are keenly interested in defining a set of long-term transportation improvements that will enhance freight and intermodal improvements, support local and regional economies, and maintain the cultural and rural heritage of south-central Georgia. The study is designed to develop an understanding of the economic, freight and transportation infrastructure issues in central Georgia. The only way we can accomplish this is to develop a partnership with you, on an ongoing basis throughout the study. Our efforts will include a series of meetings to present and discuss the results of each phase of the study. We have also organized a key group of stakeholders from both the private and public sectors to provide guidance and input during all three phases of the project. The last page of this newsletter includes several key dates to put on your calendar, as well as contacts on my staff and the study team. Please contact us at any time if you have questions, ideas, or need additional information. I look forward to hearing from you.

February 2001 Volume 1 Issue 1

In this issue:

To Our Partners.

1

GDOT Wins!

1

Study What?

2

J. Tom Coleman, Commissioner
Georgia DOT Wins Federal Grant Competition

The National Corridor Planning and Development Program (NCPD) provides funds for the planning, design, and construction of 43 corridors of national economic importance. In 1999, the Georgia DOT submitted an application for NCPD funds to study and identify potential transportation improvements along the Georgia portion of the NCPD corridor, which extends from the Port of Savannah westward to Meridian Mississippi.
Referred to by the federal designation of High Priority Corridor Six or HCP 6 the corridor is eligible for federal transportation planning and construction funds, above and beyond the federal transportation funds Georgia

receives. While these funds are limited to the HPC 6 corridor, Georgia DOT is taking full advantage of the HPC 6 study scope to broaden the study in order to address transportation, goods movement, and economics in a 45-county area in south-central Georgia. The study area was broadened to include both the HPC 6 and the US 280 corridors.
The expanded study will provide a very detailed understanding of how the transportation system can support and enhance the movement of goods and the economies of south-central Georgia. This is the reason we have titled our work the Central Georgia Corridor Study . . . keeping business moving in Georgia.

Flow and Grow.

3

Kick-Off Success! 4

Quick Facts
The study area encompases 45 of Georgia's 159 counties.
Estimated population in the study area is 1.4 million.
The study area population is forecast to grow 8.6% by 2010.
Study area freight is moved 75% by truck and 20% by rail.
Leading commodities are forest, kaolin, cement and agricultural products
Over 600,000 people are employed in the study area.
In the 90's area employment grew only 20% vs. state total of 30%.

What are we studying ?

The primary purpose of the study is to provide a detailed assessment of how well transportation infrastructure in the study area is supporting the existing and future need to move goods and support the economies of central Georgia (Figure 1). To accomplish this, the study team has defined four specific objectives:

1) Focus on the economic competitiveness of central Georgia. 2) Ensure that the transportation system can accommodate continued and future trade and goods movement. 3) Define transportation system infrastructure and technological improvements that fosters freight movement. 4) Address environmental or social consequences of additional freight movement.

Study Area Overview
The project team has organized the work program into three major phases (Figure 2):
1) Develop a comprehensive assessment of the transportation system, goods movement and economies of the study area, 2) Identify potential transportation system needs, and 3) Develop recommendations and identify potential funding sources.
The project will engage key stakeholders and the public at all critical phases, including seeking out those who are either traditionally underserved by the existing transportation network or those who may be significantly impacted by future decisions.
Projects of this magnitude can only be successful if we have firsthand knowledge and understanding of all the transportation infrastructure issues. The only way we can get at this information is to talk with you and listen to your problems, so the study team can develop solutions. Your direct involvement is critical to the success of the project. We will be conducting hundreds of personal interviews with public officials, the military and industry to help us understand the issues. We have also included key contacts in this newsletter and on our website, so please contact us if you have any questions, suggestions our ideas.

Commodity Flows and Economic Growth in Central Georgia

T he ability to move goods and people in an efficient, cost-effective manner within the HPC 6 and US 280 corridors is vital to the Georgia businesses that use these corridors, and to the State's overall economy. In order to determine where and what types of transportation system improvements are most needed, we have to understand:
Study Area Commodity Flows
Over 100 million tons with origin or destination in study area
figure 1
1) Current patterns of goods movement within the corridor; and 2) Future economic growth that will lead to changes in goods movement within the corridor.
To understand current patterns of goods movement at a "real world" level, the consultant team will be interviewing more than 100 of the corridors' freight shippers, receivers and carriers to determine their specific transportation needs. These interviews will be conducted in January 2001 and will represent a sample of the thousands of businesses that rely on the corridor.
To construct a larger picture of goods movement into, out of, and within the corridors, the consultant team has obtained data from a national commodity flow database known as "Transearch." The Transearch data includes statistics collected by various government agencies and private sources, and gives us a good picture of the commodities that are being moved, their origins and destinations, and whether

they are moving by truck or by other transportation modes.
Our preliminary analysis of the Transearch data shows that in 1998, over 100 million tons of freight were moved into or out of counties within the study area. [SEE FIGURE 1] Trucks handled about 75% of the total tonnage, while rail handled about 20%. The leading commodity types in terms of tonnage were warehouse and distribution traffic (containers and mixed shipments of higher-value consumer goods), forest materials, kaolin, cement and agricultural products [SEE FIGURE 2].
The next steps in the analysis are to identify the leading commodity types in terms of value and tonmiles traveled, to estimate the number of vehicles (trucks, railcars, etc.) that handle this traffic, and to estimate how much of the existing commodity traffic uses or could use these corridors as their preferred routes.
This will give us a good picture of existing conditions. But what about the future? To address this question, the consultant team is obtaining economic growth forecasts for 172 key industry sectors within the study area. We will apply these growth forecasts to the commodity flows for these 172 sectors to generate a picture of future conditions, and to identify sections of the study area that will require improvements to handle the projected traffic conditions.
Leading Commodity Types
Warehouse, forest, kaolin, cement, agricultural products
figure 2

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... keeping business moving in Georgia February 2001

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