Comments to Nebraska Highway Cimmission on June 25, 2010 at Gering Civic Center, Gering, NE by Joe Kiely, Vice President of Operations, Ports-to-Plains Alliance.

1. Joe Kiely
Statement to Nebraska Highway Commission
June 25, 2010
Gering, Nebraska
I am Joe Kiely, from Limon, CO. I come with two hats today: I come as a representative of a
Colorado community that is on the southern end of the Heartland Expressway and as Vice
President of Operations for the Ports-to-Plains Alliance.
The Heartland Expressway lies at the center of three congressionally designated High Priority
Corridors on the National Highway System. A corridor that reaches north to Alberta and
Saskatchewan and south to Mexico through North America’s Energy and Agricultural Heartland
… It is a Corridor of National Significance.
These numbers make it an important corridor for Nebraska:
$3.2 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the State of Texas
$1.6 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the state of Colorado
These numbers alone show the value of the highway corridor to the South.
$1.7 billion of Nebraska truck trade is with the state of South Dakota
This number shows the value of the highway corridor to the South.
$8 billion of Nebraska truck trade is north-south along this corridor.
Internationally:
Nebraska Exports by Truck along the Alliance Corridor to Mexico are $196 million and has
increased 191% since 2004
Nebraska Exports by Truck along the Alliance Corridor to Canada are $253 million and has
increased 171% since 2004.
Colorado’s Transportation Commission last month approved the final $19 million in
improvements to U.S. 287 south of Limon to the Colorado/Oklahoma border. This completed a
plan created in 1997. The Ports-to-Plains Alliance is committed to advocating for improvements
of the same kind from Limon north to the Colorado/Nebraska border in Highway 71. The
Colorado Long Range Plan already includes the need to upgrade this portion of the Heartland
Expressway to four-lane divided highway.
Finally, on a national scale, the Ports-to-Plains Alliance is advocating for the transportation
reauthorization to address funding for Rural Connectivity and Mobility; Freight Transportation,
and Rural Safety. I submit for your record the SAFETEA-LU Reauthorization Recommendations
of the Ports-to-Plains Alliance. Please take some time after this meeting a look at that document,
especially page seven where map images clearly show why this is a corridor of National
Significance; Why it is being called North America’s Energy and Agricultural Corridor.
Thank you for the opportunity to address the Commission and the Ports-to-Plains Alliance looks
forward to working with the Nebraska Department of Roads over the long term to develop the
Nebraska portion of this Corridor of National Significance.
Limon Office Lubbock Office
P.O. Box 9 5401 N MLK Blvd., Unit 395
Limon, CO 80828 Lubbock, TX 79403
P: 303.586.1787 P: 806.775.2338
F: 719.775.9073 Fax: 806.775.3981
www.portstoplains.com