Port of Virginia christens new gate complex

The mid-Atlantic port held a ceremonial “first move” by a motor carrier through the new gate complex at Norfolk International Terminals on June 26.

   The Port of Virginia has christened its state-of-the-art North Gate, a 26-lane, technology-rich gate complex that’s expected to speed the flow of truck-borne cargo through the port’s largest terminal.
   The mid-Atlantic port held a ceremonial “first move” by a motor carrier through the new gate complex at Norfolk International Terminals as part of the christening Monday, as port partners, stakeholders and officials from the federal, state and local levels gathered for the event.
   The North Gate, which more than doubles the total gate capacity at NIT, is expected to open to all motor carriers on June 30.
   “We are investing $350 million here to expand our container handling capacity by 400,000 containers,” Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director John Reinhart said. “In order to handle more cargo at the berth and stack yard, our means of moving cargo to and from our terminals – rail, barge and truck – must expand and modernize in parallel.”
   The $42 million North Gate project was paid for, in part, with money the port received in September 2015 from the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The port received $15 million in federal grant money and invested $27 million of its own money in the project.
   By the end of 2017, the North Gate is expected to have direct interstate connection via the $169 million, four-lane I-564 Intermodal Connector project, which will provide motor carriers serving NIT with direct access to I-564.
   Reinhart said an expanded North Gate is key to improving delivery of service to the motor carriers and to the cargo owners.
   “We are within days of completing our best fiscal-year performance on record – 2.7 million TEUs – and the need for an expanded North Gate that provides safe, direct access to the interstate is greater than ever,” he said. “As we expand our markets, add capacity and continue to improve efficiency across all of our operations, more and more cargo is going to come to Virginia.”