What impact do plans for intermodal facilities at Richards-Gebaur and Gardner have on this study?
The South Metro Connection’s primary goal is not to serve as a freight route but to provide a good east-west route for the growing population within the southern region of the metropolitan area. While the traffic modeling for the study area does not anticipate many added trucks traveling through the study area, a new roadway would need to be designed to accommodate safe and efficient freight movement, since it is more desirable that local trucks use it over the local street network. The planned intermodal facilities are operated by two separate and competing companies—the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the Kansas City Southern. The Gardner site was identified by BNSF as a potential site for its proposed intermodal facility and logistics parks after this study was initiated and was not part of the need for the South Metro Connection Study. The study team has prepared a traffic study for the Gardner intermodal location that will include data on current and predicted future truck travel
