NEW KENT, Va. (AP) - New Kent County is weighing the possibility of a port on the Pamunkey River for barges to and from ports in the Hampton Roads area.
The freight-transfer center would handle some of the more than 100,000 large containers per year that are trucked from ports in the Hampton Roads area west on Interstate 64 to central Virginia.
Under the plan, barges would transport containers from ports in Norfolk and Portsmouth through the Chesapeake Bay, up the York River to West Point and then up the Pamunkey River to Parham Landing, on the south bank of the river.
From there, the containers would be trucked along state Route 33 to Interstate 64.
The port could reduce truck traffic between Hampton Roads and New Kent County, improve air quality in Hampton Roads and support economic development in fast-growing New Kent, according to a draft of the study.
“We support any transportation mode that takes trucks off Interstate 64 or Interstate 95, including barges,” Virginia Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer said.
“It’s another way of doing things, and I do believe it’s an efficient way of doing things,” said Mark R. Kilduff, New Kent’s director of economic development.
The barge traffic primarily would involve the Norfolk International Terminals and the Portsmouth Marine Terminal. Cargo would be mainly consumer goods, Mr. Kilduff said.
Costs for engineering and construction for the operation, including construction of buildings and gate facilities, would be between $36.4 million and $52.6 million, according to the study. The operation would create more than 60 jobs, such as crane operators, shift managers and maintenance and repair jobs.
“You’re looking at a fair number of jobs and jobs that pay pretty darn well,” Mr. Kilduff said.
Officials from the Port of Richmond also are looking at barge service from Hampton Roads. The Richmond Metropolitan Planning Organization has approved $2.3 million toward barge service from Hampton Roads to the Port of Richmond along the James River. That money is subject to approval by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
David Host, president of T. Parker Host Inc., a shipping agent in Hampton Roads, would provide the barge service to Richmond. He said the feasibility of the New Kent project depends on whether big companies such as Wal-Mart would want a distribution center there. He also noted that completion of a New Kent port would be years away.
New Kent received a roughly $85,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation to help pay for its study, which is being conducted by two consulting firms. Mr. Kilduff said he expects it to be finished within the next few weeks.
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