TESTIMONY OF JOHN D. CARUTHERS, JR.
CHAIRMAN
I-
BEFORE THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND MERCHANT MARINE SUBCOMMITTEE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND NUCLEAR SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORK
Messrs. Chairmen and
Members of the Subcommittees, it is a pleasure to come before you today to
discuss the importance of the completion of Interstate I-69 to the efficient
movement of the nation’s freight.
When completed, I-69 will
span the nation’s heartland, connecting
Two sections of the Corridor
18 system - Interstate 69 from Port Huron, Michigan at the Canadian border
to Indianapolis, Indiana and Interstate 94 from Port Huron southwest to the
Ambassador Bridge in Detroit and west to Chicago, Illinois - are existing-open-to-traffic
Interstates. The rest of Corridor 18,
as well as Corridor 20, is under development. From Indianapolis south I-69
connects Evansville, Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Shreveport/Bossier
City, Louisiana and Houston, Texas to the Lower Rio Grande Valley at the Mexican
border. Corridor 20 extends along US 59 from Laredo, Texas at the Mexican
border through Houston to Texarkana, Texas. A portion of Corridor 20 overlaps
Corridor 18 and together, Corridors 18 and 20 comprise I-69.
The I-69 Corridor 18 and 20
system spans over 2600 miles. About 2000 miles from Indianapolis to the Mexican
border remain to be completed. Completion of I-69 will not require an entirely
new facility from Indianapolis to the Mexican border. In some areas it will
link existing Interstates or highways at Interstate standards. In other areas
it will require upgrading and linking existing non-Interstate highways and, in
others, new construction.
Work is underway along the
entire I-69 corridor. Feasibility studies have been completed and have shown
that both Corridors 18 and 20 have positive cost benefit ratios returning $1.57
and $1.68 respectively for every dollar invested. Location and environmental
studies are in progress and some sections are in design, preliminary
engineering and construction. The entire corridor will be ready to go to
construction and, in fact, much of it can be completed in the upcoming TEA-21
reauthorization, if funds are available.
While I-69 traverses nine
states, it is important to the nation as a whole; for efficient movement of
freight, for trade, intermodal connectivity and
economic development. Trade has shifted, particularly after the passage of the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), from east-west to north-south.
Canada and Mexico are now the United States’ major trading partners. U.S.
Mexican trade has more than doubled since the passage of NAFTA in 1993. U.S.
imports from Mexico were up 175% from 1993 to 1999. U.S. exports to Mexico rose
109% over the same period and trade with Canada increased 73%. In 2001, eighty
percent of U.S. trade with Mexico and 67% of U.S. trade with Canada went by
truck. The I-69 Corridor accounts for over 63% of the nation’s truckborne trade with Canada and Mexico. It has the
nation’s busiest border crossings on both the Canadian and Mexican borders. The
Michigan border points of Detroit and Port Huron account for 48% of the
nation’s truckborne trade with Canada and the Texas
border between Laredo and the Lower Rio Grande Valley accounts for over 49% of
the nation’s truckborne trade with Mexico.
Examining the impact of NAFTA trade on just
the I-69 states represented at this joint Subcommittee hearing, in my own state
of Louisiana truckborne exports and imports to Canada
and Mexico grew 47% from 1995 to 2000, from $856 million to $1.26 billion. The
largest increase in freight traffic has been in truckborne
exports to Mexico which have tripled since 1995. Truckborne
exports from Mississippi to Mexico have grown 105% since 1995 and truckborne imports have grown 74%. Total truckborne trade between Mississippi and Canada and Mexico
increased from $984 million to $1.415 billion, or 44% between 1995 and 2002. Truckborne trade between Illinois and Canada rose 49% from
$10.76 billion to $16 billion. Truckborne trade
between Illinois and Mexico rose 138% from $1.9 billion to $4.6 billion. The
value of truckborne trade between Texas and Mexico
and Canada has increased from $35.6 billion to $72.2 billion since 1995, 103%
over 5 years. The largest increase has been in truckborne
exports from Texas to Mexico. Michigan and Texas are our nation’s two largest
trading partners with other countries in North America, accounting for $175
billion in value carried by all modes of surface transportation in 2000. Texas’
North American trade is the equivalent of the combined North American trade
activity of California, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Looking at freight flows
nationwide, not just with Canada and Mexico, approximately half of the total
freight shipped in the United States in 1997 – over five billion tons – passed
through, originated or terminated in the I-69 Corridor states. Freight is
entering and leaving the I-69 Corridor by truck, rail, air and water. Seventeen
of the nation’s top 25 seaports are directly connected to I-69 and 13 inland
waterway ports serve I-69 cities. Fifteen of the nation’s top 25 air cargo
airports are readily accessible to I-69. There are 96 rail terminals within 150
miles of the Interstate 69 Corridor. Every major eastern and western rail
carrier and both Canadian carriers have terminal operations on the I-69
Corridor. There are truck rail intermodal facilities
in every major city along the I-69 Corridor.
The I-69 Port of Houston
leads the nation in foreign waterborne tonnage. The Port of Houston handled
128.8 million tons of foreign cargo volume in 2000, 23% more than the foreign
freight traffic handled at any other port in the United States. The foreign
trade cargo volume handled at the Port of Houston in 2000 was the equivalent of
the foreign cargo volume at the Ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles, Portland and
Seattle combined. It was also the equivalent of the 2000 foreign cargo volume
at the Ports of New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, and Miami
combined. With the exception of the Port of South Louisiana, which is also
directly accessible to I-69, the Port of Houston handled more total trade
tonnage (imports and exports) in 2000 than any other port in the United States.
The Port of Houston has 150 trucking lines and two railroads operating intermodal service.
While the Port of Louisiana
is ranked third in the world in total tonnage, with 194 million metric tons of
cargo volume, and the Port of Houston is ranked eighth in the world in tonnage
with 144 million metric tons, container traffic is also growing. Container
traffic in Gulf of Mexico ports served by I-69 is growing faster than the
national average or than traffic at Atlantic or Pacific ports. Between 1990 and
2000 Gulf port container traffic increased by 105% as compared to the national
average of 99%. Container traffic in the Port of Houston grew 113%.
The I-69 freight corridor
also serves the nation’s inland waterways. The I-69 Port of Memphis is the
second largest inland port in the country. The location of a foreign trade
zone, it generates $1.5 billion in economic activity annually. The Port handled
18.3 million tons of domestic trade cargo volume in 2000. More than 275
trucking lines operate regular intermodal services in
the Port of Memphis. In the City of Memphis, one of the top ten distribution
centers in the United States, all modes of transportation converge and link to
I-69. Federal Express operates its main hub in Memphis. The company’s delivery
of nine million packages a day includes a high percentage of intermodal movements between truck and air. Every major
eastern and western rail carrier has a terminal in this I-69 gateway.
Trade entering I-69 from
all modes of transportation is growing faster than in the rest of the nation.
The trade tonnage moving through the U.S.’ top 50 entry points – including
land, sea and air – grew 8.3% from 1990 to 1999. Trade tonnage moving through
I-69 points of entry grew 18.3%, or more than twice as fast as the national
average.
A Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) study, “Freight Analysis Framework” 2000, suggests that
the recent growth in freight traffic will continue through the year 2020. The
study estimates that total domestic freight traffic will increase by
approximately 87% over the next twenty years and that international trade will
increase over 107%. The vast majority of the new growth will be in the trucking
industry with trucks expected to handle 68% of the increased tonnage, 82% of
the increased value and 62% of the increased ton-miles. The FHWA Freight
Analysis shows that the majority of the expected growth in truck shipments will
continue to be in the central, eastern and southern United States, with a
dominant movement in the southwest to northeast direction – a movement ideally
suited for the I-69 Corridor.
Yet the I-69 Corridor has
not been completed and there is no direct Interstate level highway from
Indianapolis to the Mexican border. Completion of I-69 will significantly
enhance safety and efficiency along this key international trade route. I-69
will reduce travel time, fuel consumption and costs over the existing
circuitous route. It is an essential intermodal link
for trade and commodity flow. Completion
of the Corridor 18 portion of I-69 alone is also projected to save 3100 lives,
avoid 158,000 injuries and 409,000 property damage accidents.
In addition to its national
and international trade benefits, I-69 will stimulate economic growth. I-69 traverses some of the nation’s most
impoverished regions. There are over 9.1 million people living below the
poverty level in the I-69 Corridor states. In six of the Corridor states the
population in poverty exceeds the U.S. average. There are 13 empowerment zones,
enhanced enterprise communities and enterprise communities along the Corridor,
including two rural empowerment zones – Mid-Delta and Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Construction of I-69 will provide economic growth. The Corridor 18 Feasibility
Study estimated that, in the Houston to Indianapolis segment alone, I-69 will
create 27,000 jobs, add $11 billion in wages and produce $19 billion in value
added through 2025.
When the Interstate system
was initially designed in the 1940’s and 50’s, it was laid out generally east
to west, reflecting the demographics, trade patterns and defense needs of the
time. Trade has shifted, particularly after the passage of the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), from east-west to north-south. However, when the
Interstate was declared completed in 1995, some of the newer north-south
sections like I-69 were left dangling and unfinished. The promise of the
National Corridor Planning and Development and Coordinated Border
Infrastructure programs in TEA-21, of which the I-69 Mid-Continent Highway
Coalition was a major proponent, was the recognition that within the 160,000
mile National Highway System there were some remaining, unfinished corridors of
significance to the nation as a whole, serving national objectives of trade and
economic growth, that still needed to be completed and merited a separate
program with dedicated funding to do so.
Unfortunately, the program was only funded at $140 million a year
nationwide and many of the projects that qualified or were earmarked for
funding were of local, not national interest.
Despite insufficient funding diluted among projects that are not nationally
significant, the I-69 Corridor made significant progress. Since the inception
of TEA-21, I-69 has received over $245 million from the National Corridor
Planning and Development and the Coordinated Border Infrastructure programs and
directly from the Highway Trust Fund. Funds have also been provided for
specific segments in ISTEA, TEA-21 and appropriations. States have also
invested substantial amounts of their own funds.
The Corridor has moved
ahead so significantly that all of I-69 can go to construction in the period of
TEA-21 reauthorization and much of it can be completed – if dedicated funds are
available to do so. The last estimated cost of completing the unfinished
portion of I-69 was $8.3 billion, with the federal share at $6.6 billion.
Having built the Interstate
system, which served us well for the latter half of the twentieth century, we
cannot rest on our laurels. We must invest our resources in those unfinished
corridors that serve today’s and tomorrow’s twenty first century trade flows
such as I-69. There are a number of mechanisms to accomplish this; limiting the
Corridors and Borders program to major trade corridors and increasing its
funding, dedicating program funds to complete unfinished Interstate links or
funding freight corridors. Any of these programmatic options would work -
whether alone or in combination. The
point is that we must recognize the need for and build the infrastructure to
serve our nation’s freight flows. The traffic is there. The intermodal
connections – rail, water, and air - are there. The trade is
surging at Houston, Detroit and Laredo. The maquiladoras in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas are manufacturing
automobile parts, electronics, computers, batteries and plastic, glass and
rubber components and transporting them by truck for final assembly in manufacturing
facilities in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. Corn from Indiana is being
trucked to the Lower Rio Grande Valley to be used as corn syrup in soft drinks,
fruit juices and candy produced in maquiladoras
and shipped worldwide. Cotton is going by truck from Mississippi to be made
into clothing apparel in South Texas. Foreign exports from the Port of Houston
are going by truck to Chicago and Indianapolis. Yet the