View Research Topics | View Complete Article List | Visit the Library
An Overview of Transportation Infrastructure and Services in the Northern Great Plains
2007-11-04
“The relationship between trade and transportation should not be underestimated. The Region’s future is directly tied to it.”
-Northern Great Plains Rural Development Commission, 1997
In 1994, the U.S. Congress established the Northern Great Plains Rural Development Commission to prepare a rural development strategy for the Northern Great Plains (NGP) region of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The Commission focused its efforts on several common issue areas including transportation infrastructure, international trade, value-added agriculture, telecommunications, and healthcare.
The Commission’s work concluded in 1997 with recommendations in each of these areas, and included a call for further examination of the region’s long-term trade and transportation infrastructure strategy. This project, called Transportation, Trade, and Economic Development: Maximizing Future Opportunities in the Northern Great Plains is a multistage study. The first stage involves the creation of two baseline pictures: one for the Region’s transportation infrastructure and a second for its current production and trade. These baselines are presented in separate reports. This document is the executive summary of the NGP transportation baseline picture. It outlines the highway, rail, maritime, and air networks, presents the key issues for each mode, and forms the basis for the future phases of the project.
The next stage of the study will forecast trends in transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, information technology, and trade that are expected to affect the NGP Region. In the final stage, the study team will formulate a menu of policy options in each of these areas that federal, state, and local planners can adopt to improve the competitive position of the Region. Additional reports will follow the completion of each stage.
