The Columbus Region

Columbus Region Transportation, Infrastructure and Utilities

Transportation

Located in the heart of the Midwest, the Columbus Region provides easy access to major national and global markets. In fact, Inbound Logistics recently ranked Columbus as one of the nation’s logistics hotspots in 2010.

The region’s transportation infrastructure allows the cost-effective delivery of products and services anywhere at any time. The Columbus Region is located within a one-day drive or one-hour flight of over half the population of the U.S. and Canada.

Highways and Roads

Crossed by eight major interstate highways, the Columbus Region has easy southbound access through the Mid-Atlantic States to the Southeast. The Region’s east-west corridors traverse the country from coast to coast and into the Rockies. Interstate access also provides major benefits to in-state commerce with easy travel possible from any market in the state to another.

Cities (> 500,000 population) with the Highest Percentage of Roads in Good Condition

Cities ( 500,000 population) with the Lowest Percentage of Roads in Poor Condition

Port Columbus International Airport

In the past five years, the Columbus regional Airport Authority has invested more than $210 million in capital improvements to Port Columbus. Improvements include the newly reconstructed International Gateway, significantly increasing the efficiency of traffic flow into and out of the airport. Upcoming capital improvements include the replacement of the south runway, a project that recently received $90M in funding from the Federal Aviation Administration. The replacement of the south runway will enable greater airport capacity by allowing for an increased number of aircraft operations and creating space for a future second terminal.

Rickenbacker International Airport

Rickenbacker International Airport is a high-speed international, multi-modal logistics hub and strategically planned cargo complex serving several key business segments, including international airfreight, cargo airlines, freight forwarders, logistics companies, e-tailers, corporate aviation businesses, manufacturers and distributors.

Located just 10 miles south of Columbus, Rickenbacker contains two 12,000-foot runways capable of handling any aircraft in the world. Rickenbacker gives businesses a key competitive advantage for gaining access to the global marketplace.

Freight Rail and Port Access

The new Heartland Corridor allows double-stacked freight trains to travel directly from the Port of Virginia (Norfolk International Terminals) to a state-of-the-art intermodal facility located at Rickenbacker International Airport.

The National Gateway Corridor provides the Columbus region with additional port connections in Baltimore, MD, and Wilmington, NC.

Foreign Trade Zone #138

FTZ No. 138 encompasses nearly 5,200 acres with sites in 10 counties in or near the Columbus region. These General Purpose Zone sites are intended for multiple users and are either industrial parks or multi-tenant buildings. Subzones are for a specific company at a specific location.

Source: Columbus regional Airport Authority

Utilities

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2009

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