Transportation Advantages
|
  |
|
AIR
The St. Louis area’s main airport, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, is a national hub with two terminals, five concourses, and 85 gates serving 20 airlines. In 2005, 14.7 million passengers traveled through the airport. Annualized data through September 2006 indicates an increase in passengers for the year of over 5%. In 2005, the airport averaged 789 daily arrivals and departures and provided non-stop service to over 60 U.S. destinations according to OAG.
A $1 billion expansion project creating a new 9,000-foot runway, Runway 11-29, and improving capacity, was completed in 2006 and will minimize delays, particularly during inclement weather. A $105 million renovation project for the main airport terminal has begun. This update will improve the look and function of all areas of the main terminal including the concourses, ticketing, security, baggage, restrooms, and concessions areas, and will include a glass domed cover for the arrival and departure curb areas.
Conveniently located in the region, Lambert is 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis and has on-site access to the newly expanded MetroLink light rail system.
| Daily Non-Stop Flights From Major Cities to St. Louis | | From | No. of Flights per Day | | Atlanta | 14 | | Baltimore | 7 | | Boston | 4 | | Chicago | 39 | | Cincinnati | 6 | | Cleveland | 6 | | Dallas | 16 | | Detroit | 7 | | Houston | 10 | | Indianapolis | 4 | | Los Angeles | 9 | | Memphis | 5 | | Minneapolis | 13 | | New York | 16 | | Philadelphia | 8 | | Phoenix | 12 | | Pittsburgh | 7 | | San Diego | 1 | | San Francisco | 5 | | Seattle | 6 | | Washington DC | 24 | | Source: OAG Executive Flight Guide North America" OAG Worldwide, August 2006. |
|
In addition:
MidAmerica Airport serves as the St. Louis region's second full service commercial airport and as a reliever to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Located in St. Clair County, Ill., it provides state-of-the-art facilities for passengers, traffic, and cargo, including an adjacent 800-acre industrial park. It has a 10,000-foot and an 8,000-foot runway and serves cargo, commercial, and military flights. Much of the area surrounding the airport is an Illinois Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District designed to help appropriate new businesses locate nearby, and the airport is pending as a Foreign Trade Zone. The MidAmerica Airport is 24 miles from downtown St. Louis, and is also served by MetroLink.
Spirit of St. Louis Airport, the area’s largest regional airport, is in St. Louis County. It has recently renovated its main runway and parallel taxiways. The airport is home to 476 aircraft, including 125 corporate jets.
Another large regional airport,
St. Louis Downtown Airport, is just across the river from the City of St. Louis in Sauget, Ill. and provides quick access to the downtown area. It is located on a 1,013 acre site with an industrial-business park. The airport is owned by Metro which runs Greater St. Louis' bus and light rail commuter system. In 2006, 156,866 flights arrived or departed from the airport.
St. Louis Regional Airport is only 25 minutes from downtown St. Louis in East Alton, Ill. and serves a diverse clientele — from corporate aircraft and general aviators to the U.S. military and regional aircraft makers. At 2,300 acres, the airport is Illinois’ fourth largest, handling an average of 80,000 operations per year.
WATER
Situated at the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers, St. Louis is home to the nation’s second-largest inland port by trip ton-miles with over 25 billion trip ton-miles in 2004 according to the U.S. Army Corps of Enigneers. Our position as the northernmost year-round ice-free port increases our competitive advantage. Our port is served by all major barge lines and offers more than 100 docks and terminal facilities. Our port connects St. Louis to industrial centers in 15 states located along the Mississippi, Missoui, Ohio, Illinois and Tennessee Rivers, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.
Tri-City Regional Port District Statistics
Size: Located on over 1,200 acres on the Mississippi River, the port offers intermodal resources not found in other U.S. markets with access to the River's Edge Business Park containing over 800 acres of space for distribution, warehousing and manufacturing.
Volume: The Tri-City Regional Port District serves approximately 2,500 barges annually and is served by all major barge lines.
Channel Depth: Depth varies between 10 and 45 feet, with an average depth of 32 feet.
Minimum Channel Width: 300 feet (91.4 meters)
Season: The port is the northernmost year-round ice free port on the inland waterway.
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES
The St. Louis Region has two foreign trade zone sites and four sub-zone sites located conveniently close to truck, rail and air access.
Foreign Trade Zone No. 31 is a public/private sector venture operated by the Tri-City Regional Port District, providing 423,000 square feet of flexible warehouse/industrial space, with excellent multi-modal transportation access. FTZ 31 will soon have a total of six FTZ sites totaling nearly 8,000 acres.
RAIL
Home to six Class I railroads and several smaller industrial rail lines, St. Louis is the nation’s third largest rail center, representing a major employer locally.
Class I
Short Lines
Passager
HIGHWAY
The easy-to-navigate transporation infrastructures include four interstate highways that intersect the St. Louis region: I-44, I-55, I-64, and I-70. Four interstate linkages provide further connections for St. Louis motorists: I-255, I-170, I-270, and I-370.
In addition, the "Avenue of the Saints" highway from St. Louis to St. Paul, Minnesota is nearly finished after 15 years of work. The 560 mile, four lane expressway "high-priority corridor" is scheduled for completion in 2008 further improving St. Louis' highway access.
This level of interstate highway access supports Greater St. Louis' position as a truck transportation center. St. Louis has well over 1,000 businesses operating in the Truck Transportation industry with over 600 in the General Freight Trucking industry, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to Dennis Schoemehl, president of Logistics Management Solutions, St. Louis is "an efficient place to do business" for transportation and trucking companies due to the region's infrastructure.
Interstate 64 Reconstruction
Interstate-64 is currently undergoing a $535 million reconstruction project in St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis scheduled for completion in October of 2010. The project will replace aging bridges, improve flow, reduce noise, and improve safety through the upgrade of pavement, a new interstate to interstate connection between 1-64 and I-170, the addition of traffic lanes, elimination of short entrance/exit ramps and merges, and enhanced safety with wider shoulders.
INTERMODAL FACILITIES
St. Louis has state-of-art internodal facilities providing many advantages to the freight transportation business, including reductions in cargo handling, improved security, reduced damages and loss, and allowing freight to be transported faster. The major intermodal facilities include:
Sources:
AIR: Lambert St. Louis Inernational Airport.
Analysis of Data from: "OAG Air Route Information" OAG Worldwide, January 2008.
"The City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Airport Authority Unveil $105 MM Facelift Plan for Lambert-St. Louis International Airport," Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, February 25, 2007.
"MidAmerica St. Louis Airport".
WATER: "Top 20 Inland U.S. Port for 2004" U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
TriCity Port District.
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES: "U.S. FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES" U.S. Department of Commerce.
RAIL: "St. Louis Terminal" [railroad map], Alton & Southern Railway Co., 2002.
"Overview of U.S. Freight Railroads" Association of American Railroads, 2006.
HIGHWAYS: "2004 MSA Business Patterns" U.S. Census Bureau.
"The New I-64" Missouri Department of Transportation.
