Limon Office Lubbock Office P.O. Box 9 5401 N MLK Blvd., Unit 395 Limon, CO 80828 Lubbock, TX 79403 P: 303.586.1787 P: 806.775.2338 F: 719.775.9073 Fax: 806.775.3981 www.portstoplains.com Joe Kiely Statement to Nebraska Highway Commission June 25, 2010 Gering, Nebraska I am Joe Kiely, from Limon, CO. I come with two hats today: I come as a representative of a Colorado community that is on the southern end of the Heartland Expressway and as Vice President of Operations for the Ports-to-Plains Alliance. The Heartland Expressway lies at the center of three congressionally designated High Priority Corridors on the National Highway System. A corridor that reaches north to Alberta and Saskatchewan and south to Mexico through North America’s Energy and Agricultural Heartland … It is a Corridor of National Significance. These numbers make it an important corridor for Nebraska: $3.2 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the State of Texas $1.6 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the state of Colorado These numbers alone show the value of the highway corridor to the South. $1.7 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the state of South Dakota This number shows the value of the highway corridor to the South. $8 billion of Nebraska truck trade is north-south along this corridor. Internationally: Nebraska Exports by Truck along the Alliance Corridor to Mexico are $196 million and has increased 191% since 2004 Nebraska Exports by Truck along the Alliance Corridor to Canada are $253 million and has increased 171% since 2004. Colorado’s Transportation Commission last month approved the final $19 million in improvements to U.S. 287 south of Limon to the Colorado/Oklahoma border. This completed a plan created in 1997. The Ports-to-Plains Alliance is committed to advocating for improvements of the same kind from Limon north to the Colorado/Nebraska border in Highway 71. The Colorado Long Range Plan already includes the need to upgrade this portion of the Heartland Expressway to four-lane divided highway. Finally, on a national scale, the Ports-to-Plains Alliance is advocating for the transportation reauthorization to address funding for Rural Connectivity and Mobility; Freight Transportation, and Rural Safety. I submit for your record the SAFETEA-LU Reauthorization Recommendations of the Ports-to-Plains Alliance. Please take some time after this meeting a look at that document, especially page seven where map images clearly show why this is a corridor of National Significance; Why it is being called North America’s Energy and Agricultural Corridor. Thank you for the opportunity to address the Commission and the Ports-to-Plains Alliance looks forward to working with the Nebraska Department of Roads over the long term to develop the Nebraska portion of this Corridor of National Significance.

Nebraska Highway Commission 062510

Download PDF Report

Upload
jkiely1
View
322
Download
1

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Nebraska Highway Commission 062510

Limon Office Lubbock Office P.O. Box 9 5401 N MLK Blvd., Unit 395 Limon, CO 80828 Lubbock, TX 79403 P: 303.586.1787 P: 806.775.2338 F: 719.775.9073 Fax: 806.775.3981

www.portstoplains.com

Joe Kiely Statement to Nebraska Highway Commission

June 25, 2010 Gering, Nebraska

I am Joe Kiely, from Limon, CO. I come with two hats today: I come as a representative of a Colorado community that is on the southern end of the Heartland Expressway and as Vice President of Operations for the Ports-to-Plains Alliance. The Heartland Expressway lies at the center of three congressionally designated High Priority Corridors on the National Highway System. A corridor that reaches north to Alberta and Saskatchewan and south to Mexico through North America’s Energy and Agricultural Heartland … It is a Corridor of National Significance. These numbers make it an important corridor for Nebraska: $3.2 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the State of Texas $1.6 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the state of Colorado These numbers alone show the value of the highway corridor to the South. $1.7 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the state of South Dakota This number shows the value of the highway corridor to the South. $8 billion of Nebraska truck trade is north-south along this corridor. Internationally:

Nebraska Exports by Truck along the Alliance Corridor to Mexico are $196 million and has increased 191% since 2004 Nebraska Exports by Truck along the Alliance Corridor to Canada are $253 million and has increased 171% since 2004.

Colorado’s Transportation Commission last month approved the final $19 million in improvements to U.S. 287 south of Limon to the Colorado/Oklahoma border. This completed a plan created in 1997. The Ports-to-Plains Alliance is committed to advocating for improvements of the same kind from Limon north to the Colorado/Nebraska border in Highway 71. The Colorado Long Range Plan already includes the need to upgrade this portion of the Heartland Expressway to four-lane divided highway. Finally, on a national scale, the Ports-to-Plains Alliance is advocating for the transportation reauthorization to address funding for Rural Connectivity and Mobility; Freight Transportation, and Rural Safety. I submit for your record the SAFETEA-LU Reauthorization Recommendations of the Ports-to-Plains Alliance. Please take some time after this meeting a look at that document, especially page seven where map images clearly show why this is a corridor of National Significance; Why it is being called North America’s Energy and Agricultural Corridor. Thank you for the opportunity to address the Commission and the Ports-to-Plains Alliance looks forward to working with the Nebraska Department of Roads over the long term to develop the Nebraska portion of this Corridor of National Significance.