The road to everywhere
Iowa has a brand-new road that's already making a big difference for farmers and their crops. Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce combined with state and local funding, this rural freight road is now linking Interstate 29 to the Port of Blencoe on the Missouri River.
The port, located halfway between Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, is an ideal spot for helping western Iowa farmers move their agricultural goods straight from the highway to the port's barge terminal allowing their products to reach the global marketplace more easily.
Why is this road so special?
Iowa is a producer state, meaning it exports more goods than it imports. This terminal is now helping farmers ship their products via barge, reducing the need for as many trucks at local consolidation points and rail terminals. Since one barge can carry as many as 70 trucks and more than 16 railcars, it reduces congestion on the roads and can save travel time and fuel making transportation easier and more efficient for everyone.
NEW Cooperative estimates that in just one year, bringing products up the Missouri River by barge and loading it on to semi-trucks will save approximately 250,000 truck highway miles. Adding in employee and fuel costs, the savings add up to nearly $250,000.
While the road is brand new, the port started operating in June 2021. Since then, the cooperative has been transporting 36,000 tons of dry fertilizer from ports on the Mississippi River to their facilities in Iowa.
Partnerships make magic happen
The teamwork of NEW Cooperative, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Monona County, and the state of Iowa has created 30 new jobs and attracted a whopping $11.5 million in private investment. Thanks also to the Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council, too, as they played a role in planning and making the project happen.
This is just one of hundreds of construction projects around Iowa that are making lives better through transportation.