The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded the Ports of Indiana an $11.249 million grant to construct a $16 million rail yard and transload facility at its Mount Vernon, Ind., location, the closest major port to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
The rail yard and transload facility will be located on 30 acres along State Road 62 within the Mount Vernon port in southwestern Indiana, according to the Ports of Indiana’s Nov. 15 announcement. The project includes the installation of 13,000 feet of track dedicated to railcar switching and 7,000 feet of track that will facilitate cargo transfers between truck and rail; five new rail-truck transload zones; and a multi-purpose cargo storage yard. The MARAD grant also supports the purchase and installation of a new truck scale and scale house, truck marshaling areas, facility lighting, and security improvements for the transload operations. More than five acres of new paved roadways will link the transload facilities.
OmniTRAX was selected in June as the exclusive rail operator for Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon and launched services on Aug. 1. Its 8.2-mile Mount Vernon Railroad (see map above) coordinates rail connections and assembles outbound trains for daily interchange with the Evansville Western Railway, which provides direct access to BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific (see map below).
OmniTRAX is also supporting the master development of approximately 600 acres owned by Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon, including a 544-acre mega site that is said to represent the largest contiguous greenfield space within Indiana’s three port system.
The Ports of Indiana’s other locations are Jeffersonville, which is just across from Louisville, Ky., on the Ohio River, and Burns Harbor, which is on the southern tip of Lake Michigan in Portage. The Ports of Indiana annually handles 7 million tons of cargo and 40,000 railcars.
“This is the largest federal grant in Ports of Indiana history, and it will have far-reaching impacts throughout the Southwest Indiana economy,” Ports of Indiana CEO Jody Peacock said of the MARAD grant. “We are extremely grateful to MARAD and our Indiana officials for supporting this effort. Once completed, this project could double our port’s rail capacity and create a major transload hub that connects throughout the U.S. on four Class I railroads.”
“This is a major milestone for our organization and a transformative step for the Mount Vernon community,” added Jason May, Port Director for Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon. “This investment will create new rail opportunities for local businesses and lead to long-term economic growth and a positive impact across our region.”
The Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon grant was one of 31 Port Infrastructure Development Program awards by MARAD in 15 states and one U.S. territory, totaling nearly $580 million (download complete list below). The other rail-related grants went to the New Haven, Connecticut, Port Rail Access Improvement Project, which received $11,172,433 to add two new rail yards and more than one mile of new track to the New Haven Terminal; and the Chicago, Illinois, Landing Dock Safety and Efficiency Project, which received $34,508,933 to rehabilitate roughly 3,000 feet of a dock wall, construct approximately three new heavy-lift crane pads, and add about 1,700 feet of new rail spur at the Iroquois Landing Terminal.
