City drafts multi-modal plan.

Sault Ste, Marie council has approved a draft plan to make a multi-modal freight transfer hub in the city a reality.

The multi-modal facility is an initiative to reroute container freight traffic and border crossing congestion through Sault Ste. Marie to Michigan and other locales in the United States. It has garnered support from all three levels of government as well as private organizations.

Developing the strategy for Sault Ste. Marie's containerized freight and transfer hub was top priority for John Febbraro, director of Industrial Marketing for Sault Ste. Marie's economic development division.

During the past year, FedNor commissioned a management plan from KPMG Canada to determine the scope and impact of the project. Febbraro used some of the strategies developed in the report to build a direction plan for the whole idea.

"Their plan gave us a 30,000-foot view of the whole multi-modal initiative," Febbraro says.

The Sault's draft report highlights the results of research and a six-phase recommendation process for planning the multi-model initiative.

Phase one: Describe the concept definition and advantages provided by Sault Ste. Marie.

Phase two: Include stakeholder consultations to identify the level of interest.

Phase three: Develop a business case.

Phase four: Transition the responsibility from a community based initiative to a sector "driver" that would implement and operate the multi-modal facility.

Phase five: Bring leading stakeholders to the table with formal commitments.

Phase six: Establish a formal business case to be used by the proponents.

Reassessing the tasks at hand is a consideration for the planning process the authors of the draft report state, since there are concerns that the level of work will exceed the capabilities currently available for planning. Once suitable resources have been identified and committed, a business case can be established.

While support is strong, there are contrasting views from various stakeholders as to the definition of multi-modal for the Sault. For instance, some stakeholder envision a fully integrated system involving air, sea, rail and road transportation, while others believe only rail and road should be considered. Further, progress appears to be limited by three factors: the absence of a formal business case, which outlines the viability and benefits to establishing such a hub; the reliance on community and voluntary members to move the project forward, and the lack of infrastructure required to support the concept.

The city has been putting all the pieces together with the help of private and public stakeholders.

Congestion at the Canada-U.S. border is due to unprecedented volumes of containerized traffic from Asia. They are pushing beyond the capacity of the existing transportation infrastructure and interruptions are experienced predominately at the southern and eastern Ontario borders.

Sault Ste. Marie officials began mulling the multi-modal idea over from a transpolar perspective then from a truck-to-rail, rail-to-truck position after speaking with Ford Motor Co. of Canada. The prevailing logic is it makes more sense to utilize Highway I-75 from Sault Ste. Marie to the tip of Florida than to enter congested ports or border crossings, Febbraro says.

"Shippers then have access to an uncongested border."

Time is of the essence. If stakeholders are interested in constructing a hub, it is imperative that development begins soon before alternative solutions are implemented in southern Ontario or through Winnipeg and Chicago routes.

Transportation modals may not increase shipping volumes, but rather change the way products are delivered. Therefore, understanding the full breadth of the multi-modal hub is crucial to the success of the initiative. A significant influx of infrastructure funding will be necessary to make the project successful. Existing rail lines appears to be insufficient to deal with the potential activity. But, there are a number of projects underway dealing with infrastructure issues. For example, a new truck route connecting the area surrounding the International Bridge with major highways is under construction. A small-scale reload and load facility is being developed and discussions around possibilities with regard to air cargo are ongoing.

www.sault-canada.com

By KELLY LOUISEIZE

Northern Ontario Business