Freight Bottlenecks in the Upper Midwest: Identification, Collaboration, and Alleviation

Freight movements throughout the Mississippi Valley region are complicated by the presence of recurring congestion along the highway, rail, and port freight networks. This congestion has several deleterious effects on freight carriers, commuters, governments, and markets. State departments of transportation (DOTs) in the Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition are looking to identify the points of concern along their networks and make plans to improve congested conditions. In some areas, congestion is a result of physical conditions in the network that constrict efficient freight mobility. These conditions are defined here as various types of “freight bottlenecks.” In an effort to identify the locations of these bottlenecks and their effect on freight flows, this research considers flow throughout the networks designated as freight routes, determines locations wherein physical or operational constraints exist, and calculates the truck delay associated with the existing conditions. The highway bottleneck locations calculated through geographic information system (GIS) analysis are verified through communication with state transportation engineers and planners in the Mississippi Valley region. Through these discussions, alternative methodologies are considered and site-specific conditions are further detailed by those interviewed. The bottleneck locations found in this study are also crosschecked against state projects planned for alleviating known bottleneck conditions. This presentation will discuss the methodologies developed to identify freight bottleneck locations, the process of collaborating with state DOTs to verify these locations, and the inventory of alleviation projects that are already planned or recommended by the research team to address these highway freight bottlenecks.