Grants finalized for NS Crescent Corridor

Grants finalized for NS Crescent Corridor    U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said last week that construction can begin on two intermodal freight terminals in Memphis and Birmingham, due to a signed grant agreement with the Alabama and Tennessee departments of transportation for $105 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.
   The facilities are a key part of an effort to increase capacity along Norfolk Southern’s 2,500-mile Crescent Corridor from the Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic and reduce traffic on interstate highways.
   Alabama will use its half the grant — $52.5 million — to build the 261-acre Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility near McCalla, about 20 miles southwest of Birmingham. Total cost of the project is $97.5 million, with Norfolk Southern and other sources providing remaining funds.
   Tennessee will use its $52.5 million to build the 380-acre Memphis Regional Intermodal Facility immediately west of Rossville, about 27 miles east of downtown Memphis. Likewise, the remainder of the $105.1 million project will come from Norfolk Southern and other sources.