Norfolk Visit by Joe Biden Highlights Trucking Infrastructure Challenge

Infrastructure is one of the most important aspects of a developed economy. Investment in our infrastructure is important not only to repair normal wear and tear, but for our future technological advancement.

At Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) there were well over 2 million containers handled last year, a 6.5% increase over the previous year. When it first opened in 1978 the terminals barely even handled a quarter million containers. As recently as 1994 they had not even broken a million containers.

The increase is more than a 100 percent increase in 20 years. Meanwhile our road infrastructure has had difficulty in keeping pace with our population growth of 15 percent in the comparable amount of time let alone the 100 percent increase in shipping.

Last Wednesday Joe Biden visited Virginia to talk about the $15 million dollars the federal “Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery” grant is giving to the Virginia Port Authority for improvements to the NIT, the Virginian-Pilot Reported. That money will be mostly going towards the North Gate of the NIT and would include and expansion of I-564. This expansion would help remove 740 trucks a day off of roads like Hampton and Terminal Boulevards in Norfolk

This improvement should not only relieve traffic but more importantly it should save lives and will decrease the number of accidents. In a recent video, we highlighted the dangers of Hampton and Terminal Boulevards. This improvement is long overdue and unfortunately will take years to complete. In the meantime we will suffer accidents with injuries like the one my colleague Jim Hurley was involved in, in which a 50 year old man suffered brain damage after being hit by a big rig on terminal boulevard, which resulted in a $460,000 settlement. All cases are different and unique and we cannot guarantee the same result in your case.

If you or anyone you know has been injured in a truck, car, or train accident, you should seek the proper medical treatment, and then call an experienced Norfolk personal injury lawyer.  Call the Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers at 757-333-3333, or look us up online at www.cooperhurley.com.