The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) announced that Erich Zimmermann was confirmed as NARC's new executive director by the Board of Directors. Erich Zimmermann will take over as executive director beginning on March 1, 2024.

Moffatt & Nichol is well known for its major freight infrastructure clients and projects:

• Major rail projects such as the Alameda Corridor in California, the Heartland Corridor from Virginia to Ohio, and the Mason Mega Rail Project in Georgia; and inland ports such as the Appalachian Regional Port in Murray County, GA, served by CSX, and the inland port in Gainesville, GA, now under construction, served by Norfolk Southern.
• Long term North American port clients from Maryland and Virginia, to Georgia and Florida, to Alabama and Texas, to California to Washington
• Logistic enterprises across North America in the Midwest, Southeast and West Coast of the US and Canada

Behind these projects and clients is a deep understanding of freight economics, business models, and real-time market trends, along with the demands of supply chains and logistics. Moffatt & Nichol economists, commercial advisors, planners, and engineers all collaborate with clients to develop, operate, and optimize market-based, market-driven commercially successful projects.

Moffatt & Nichol is further enhancing these services and market knowledge with the establishment of a team focused exclusively on rail-centric economic development sites and clients in North America.

Housed within the Transportation Practice at Moffatt & Nichols, the firm’s Rail Economic Development group—referred to as the “RED Team,” for short--broadly focuses on site identification, site rail configuration and consulting on how best to recruit rail-dependent projects, such as industrial, manufacturing, distribution and logistic projects.

The RED team is headed by Dr. Robert E. Martinez, Vice President of Freight & Economic Development, a 24-year veteran of Norfolk Southern, where for twenty years he headed the railway’s industrial development efforts as Vice President of Business Development & Real Estate.  In the economic development arena, Dr. Martinez oversaw multiple large industrial development projects that successfully located along the Class I’s network.

Dr. Martinez has built a complete rail economic development team with senior rail, market analysis, and site development professionals—a 38-year Class 1 Railroad technical services veteran, a multistate industrial, manufacturing, and logistic business development team, and a real estate site development team drawn from the most influential real estate advisory firms in North America.

Team RED is strongly connected to M&N's Commercial Advisory Team, which is headquartered in New York, but is national in scope.  The Commercial/Advisory team, headed by Mr. Dan Solomon, is composed of economists and business analysts who are highly conversant in freight market demands, benefit/costs, project due diligence, and, perhaps most importantly, supply chain and logistics.  This final arena is key for understanding the competitive advantages and challenges of competing sites in the pursuit of successful rail centric economic development projects.

Over the course of recent months, Team RED has worked on rail design related to multi-tenant industrial parks in Florida and Missouri; in support of review of multiple potential sites associated with a shortline railroad in a Midwestern state; and conceptual rail configuration for a large site in a western state which includes multiple developable industrial pads to be served by “conventional” rail and an intermodal footprint.  The team is working  on a new intermodal ramp in Ohio.  Team RED has worked on industrial park configuration, including a large park in Florida. The team works in support of allied site selectors who need rail review and analytics for their projects.  The team is working with multiple shortline operations that require industrial development expertise.  In tight collaboration with the Commercial/Advisory Group, Team RED spearheaded an economic and physical feasibility review for the placement of an inland port in an eastern State.  M&N, including with RED Team participation, was subsequently awarded initial design work for that inland port.  The team is in dialogue with a handful of other States considering inland port terminals, and anticipate this arena will grow given the broad market interest.  As strong analytics and data manipulation are often required, M&N’s Commercial/Advisory group is a close compatriot in many instances to Team RED.

The Red Team focuses on rail projects, helping clients understand rail dynamics and how best to position themselves properly to attract and accommodate economic development projects that require rail.  At the core of the Team's work is the proper configuration of sites (from modest to mega) from a rail perspective to optimize sites and attract investments.  The point of departure is consistently strongly market-based and market-driven.  Three elements succinctly structure the framework for rail economic development at M&N:  The team is rail-centric (having emerged from the industry); it is site-specific and site-focused; and it is all about relationships.  Relationships are key to communicating site attributes and managing the process to bring projects to successful fruition.

The Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners has approved a cooperative agreement between the Port, Caltrans, and SANDAG, and has authorized approximately $2.2 million in funding, for the Harbor Drive 2.0 and Vesta Bridge projects. Harbor Drive 2.0 will improve Harbor Drive between the Port’s two cargo terminals by creating a better truck route for more efficient maritime cargo handling, will greatly enhance pedestrian, bicycle, and transit connections, and will improve air quality by removing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Port of San Diego, Caltrans, and SANDAG are working together to advance Harbor Drive 2.0 to construction. The Port developed the breakthrough, forward-thinking vision as part of the Port Master Plan Update process. Caltrans served as the lead agency in developing the concept of operations and the final environmental documentation, and SANDAG is the lead implementing agency. All agencies are working together to advance and fund the project.

In June 2023, the California Transportation Commission awarded an $18.5 million grant via its Trade Corridor Enhancement Program to Caltrans for the project. The Port is providing approximately $2.2 million in matching funding. The total of approximately $20.7 million will be used to advance project design and for right-of-way Harbor Drive 2.0 and Vesta Bridge improvements. The cooperative agreement allows for the funds to be transferred to SANDAG.

“This project is a shining example of regional collaboration for the betterment of a key arterial within our transportation system,” said Chairman Frank Urtasun, Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners. “Together with Caltrans and SANDAG, we continue to help our communities by reducing trucks in their streets, improving public health and overall quality of life. Also together, we are making transit easier, and adding better and safer bike lanes and sidewalks. It’s truly a “complete street.”

Read the full release here.