Illinois inland port launches upgrades at CN-served river terminal 

By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor 

Volume growth and transportation infrastructure capacity continue to be promising and limiting factors, respectively, for the Kaskaskia Regional Port District. 

The public port district in southwestern Illinois manages multimodal (rail, river and roadway) infrastructure to support commerce, industrial development and long-term regional growth in the region. Its port is the third-largest U.S. inland port as measured by annual tonnage, handling a diverse mix of commodities that include grain, steel, gypsum, fly ash and scrubber stone. 

Established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1965, the district operates five terminals located on a 36-mile, deep-draft channel along the Kaskaskia and Mississippi rivers, including a bulk materials terminal on the Kaskaskia River that’s served by CN and a rail-to-barge coal terminal on the Mississippi River that’s served by Union Pacific Railroad. 

The district is in the midst of spending more than $44 million to upgrade all its terminals to boost capacity, bolster safety and improve efficiencies. That effort includes a $14 million project that recently began at the CN-served bulk materials terminal in New Athens, Illinois. 

The project includes the construction of a new rail loop and outbound conveyor system. The terminal's current loop track can handle 125-car unit trains and its loading capacity reaches up to 3,000 tons per hour for coal, grain and other bulk commodities. 

Scheduled for completion in second-quarter 2027, the upgrades are designed to increase rail capacity and improve transfers between rail and river transportation providers. 

“This additional infrastructure will drastically increase rail efficiency and capacity to promote future growth,” says Kaskaskia Regional Port District General Manager Brent Donovan. 

The Illinois Department of Transportation is providing $10 million for the project through the Rebuild Illinois Capital Program. The port district is covering the remainder of project costs. 
 
“This state grant was originally awarded on Jan. 27, 2022, and the concept of adding a second rail loop began around 2020 as demand grew for outbound gypsum and fly ash,” says Donovan. 

District officials are counting on the terminal upgrades to support the handling of agricultural products and other freight moving through southern Illinois. 

The project helps illustrate how public funding can be combined with local port investments to advance multimodal transportation infrastructure, the officials say.