The Freight Economy Forum at MARC is a gathering of private and public stakeholders from the greater Kansas City area to discuss freight transportation, trade and logistics, and economic trends. Each meeting covers a variety of presentations and discussions, centered on strengthening the regional economy.
Our next event, Integrating Freight Rail into Community Planning, will provide insights and strategies to integrate freight, particularly rail freight, into community planning.
Many communities interact with railroads, and in many cases support rail-served industrial parks. In many communities that have these land uses and railroads traversing within and through them, public projects that interact with the railroads are not fully integrated into the community plans, economic development plans, transportation master plans or other area plans. For some, it is due to not knowing how to engage the railroad or there's a perception of difficulty resulting in avoidance.
MARC has partnered with Wilson & Company, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to facilitate this discussion that will help shed some light on working with and planning with the railroads, including:
- Share how some agencies are collaborating to advance win-win opportunities;
- Provide some perspective on the roles that the state DOT plays in prioritizing and advancing railroad projects;
- And provide a forum to garner communication to advance awareness and collaboration.
Speakers include:
- Alex Seda, Railroad Projects Manager, Missouri Department of Transportation
- Jake Rzewnicki, Public Projects Manager, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
- Ashley Winchell, AICP, Planning Practice Lead, Midwest Region, Wilson & Company, Inc., Engineers & Architects
- Jim Townsend, AICP, Associate Vice President, Wilson & Company, Inc., Engineers & Architects
This is in-person only at the MARC Boardroom.
