MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The state of Alabama this week announced the creation of the A-USA Corridor, a proposed $231.6 million program of rail projects to upgrade economic development infrastructure in central and southern Alabama.
The first phase of the A-USA Corridor initiative involves a $71.6 million initiative to link the Port of Mobile with the McCalla Intermodal Facility near Birmingham. This 280-mile rail corridor will also link economic development sites in Etowah, Shelby, and Washington/Mobile counties, each totaling more than 1,000 acres. A fourth site in Jefferson County will see the development of a 104-acre site with up to a million square feet of warehousing under roof.
The Growing Alabama Tax Credit program has helped expedite the work required to make these sites immediately available for manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. To that end, Norfolk Southern Railway has already partnered with the state and local economic development authorities by investing $5.7 million to the Etowah County Commission for improvements.
Phase One of the A-USA Corridor project involves 12 specific track, signal, and yard improvements on Norfolk Southern lines between Mobile, Selma, and Birmingham.
The A-USA Corridor is a public-private partnership, with Norfolk Southern funding more than 50% of the project. Alabama is investing $5 million, with the remainder coming from present and future federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program grants through the Alabama Department of Transportation, in partnership with Norfolk Southern.
“The A-USA Corridor is an innovative public-private partnership that will strengthen the nation’s supply chain at a critical time and boost the regional economy,” says NS President Alan Shaw. “We look forward to working with Governor Kay Ivey and the Port of Mobile to make the A-USA Corridor an engine for job creation in Alabama for years to come.”
Huntsville (2020 pop: 215,006) , the largest city in Alabama, is omitted from the proposed project along with the rest of the northern Alabama region in the Tennessee Valley.
Toyota built a car factory in the west part of Huntsville on Norfolk Southern’s former Memphis Division of predecessor Southern Railway. Huntsville is 70 miles east and 97 miles west of Norfolk Southern’s major classification yards in Sheffield and Chattanooga, respectively.