Georgia is one of the top states in the country for logistics, but you’d never know it based on its infrastructure, according to the state’s civil engineers, whose recently released report gives Georgia’s roads, rail, ports, bridges and other infrastructure an overall grade of C, unchanged from the group’s report five years ago.
“From the Atlanta airport to the Port of Savannah, Georgia is a major player in the global economy” said Kat Gurd, president of the Georgia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. “This report card shows that our connections to that economy are ailing, hurt too often by underfunding and increasing congestion.”
State civil engineers awarded the state’s infrastructure a cumulative grade of C, based on 14 categories. A team of volunteer civil engineers assessed hundreds of public records over the course of the past year to complete the report card.
Category grades included: Bridges (C-), roads (C-), dams (D-), aviation (C+), drinking water (C+), energy (B), parks and recreation (D+), rail (B), ports (C+), schools (C+), storm water (D+), transit (D-), wastewater (C+), and solid waste (C+).
Georgia’s growing population combined with cutbacks in infrastructure funding resulted in many of the low grades. For example:
• Georgia ranks 49th in the nation in per capita transportation funding.
• Georgia’s state motor fuel excise tax, which funds surface transportation projects, is one of the lowest in the United States.
• Georgia is among the lowest in the country in transit spending per resident. Georgia spent just $0.63 per person in 2008, compared to $119.52 per person spent by New Jersey, $40.43 by Illinois and $7.94 by North Carolina in the same year, according to the American Public Transportation Association’s 2010 Survey of State Funding for Public Transportation.
• MARTA — Atlanta’s public transit system — is the largest transit agency in the country that does not receive state funding support for operations.
Closer to home, the group stressed the importance of the Port of Savannah.
“If we want to be the gateway to Southeastern commerce, we must deepen the Port of Savannah, increase our transportation funding and modernize our infrastructure,” Gurd said.
The report elaborates.
“Without adequate and properly dredged navigational channels, Georgia ports cannot serve the increasing and rapidly changing demands of world trade,” it states. “This is a national concern because Savannah is the second largest port for exports in the United States.
“Lack of funding could limit future economic growth.”
How does a port generally considered one of the best-run operations in the country rate a mediocre grade of C?
Ports rely on a number of public infrastructure investment sources over which the GPA has no control, such as dredging, waterways projects, “First-Mile” transportation and rail connections,” the report said, adding its assessment focused on both “inside” and “outside the fence” issues.
The engineers found the bulk of GPA’s facilities infrastructure and maintenance programs exceeded the evaluation criteria, also noting that the port has undertaken a number of projects in recent years to improve cargo-handling capabilities, operations and maintenance for the eventual servicing of Post-Panamax vessels.
But a lack of parallel state and federal investment in intermodal connections hampers efficiency and job creation.
While port authorities and their business partners are making major investments in their port facilities, the report said studies show the intermodal links such as roads, bridges, tunnels and federal navigation channels, which are required for landside and waterside connections, receive inadequate funding from state and federal governments, resulting in inefficient cargo transshipment and traffic congestion, increasing consumer product costs and slowing job growth.
All of that suggests a national freight infrastructure strategy is required to assist in solving the intermodal system deficiencies, according to the report.
In addition, it said, the U.S. Congress should pass a reauthorized multi-year transportation bill that targets federal dollars toward economically strategic freight transportation infrastructure of national and regional significance.
“This is particularly acute for the southeastern United States, which will become one of the major front doors for trade once the Panama Canal is completed.”
Finally, the report concludes, dredging investment is crucial for the entire economy of Georgia. Such investment will create much-needed, long-term jobs for the region.
“Georgia’s deepwater ports have become the gateway for trade in the Southeast and are increasingly important to the nation’s global trade,” the report states.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that (harbor deepening) will provide a 5.5 to 1 benefit-to-cost ratio, one of the highest returns on investment for any deepening project in the nation. Such investment will reduce consumer costs and help Georgia keep pace with the evolving world of supply chain logistics.”
Other infrastructure categories and recommendations included:
• Georgia has almost 800 structurally deficient bridges and over 2,000 functionally obsolete bridges. The state is moving from a “worst first” approach to bridge replacement to an asset management and risk-based replacement approach. This is a step in the right direction.
• Georgia depends heavily on rail to convey fuels, chemicals, minerals, farm products, waste and other essentials. Overall condition of the network is generally good, though state DOT officials should continue to closely monitor short lines to minimize the creation of more abandoned rail lines. Rail carriers need to monitor future demands of the Port of Savannah and Georgia Power to ensure their infrastructure is capable of supporting additional freight volumes.
• Although traffic fatalities have been significantly reduced in the last five years, Georgia’s traffic fatality rate is still well above the national average. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded $932 million in Georgia transportation improvements since the last Report Card, but much more is needed. Georgia needs to increase funding for roads as we continue to be 49th in the nation in per capita transportation funding.