MORGANTOWN — There are currently 29 designated marine highway routes in the United States.
Those routes include rivers, lakes and oceans whose 19,541 combined miles reach 41 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.
Now officials in both Morgantown and Pittsburgh are hopeful the Monongahela River will soon add its 130 miles to that total.
A joint application put forward by the city of Morgantown and the Port of Pittsburgh — with the sponsorship of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization — should go before U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg by mid-August.
The marine highway program was established by Section 1121 of the Clean Energy Act of 2007 with the purpose of reducing highway congestion and emissions.
It’s estimated that one barge has the same carrying capacity as 13.4 train cars or 58 large tractor-trailers.
“Our rivers are natural highways that have served our region and our country for centuries. Go back and look at the history of the Monongahela River,” Scott Harshman, marketing director for the Port of Pittsburgh, said.
Marine highways are named in accordance with the overland routes they parallel, meaning the Monongahela could get a new M79 designation.
Receiving that designation would mean federal grant dollars would be available through the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“One thing that makes my program different than other infrastructure programs, which is what we fall under, is that private entities can apply along with public entities,” Tim Pickering, of the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration, said.
“My grant money is only to create marine highway services. We don’t build docks and things like that. We buy machinery, typically.”
Pickering went on to say that recent changes to the marine highway legislation have not only streamlined the grant process, but also opened marine highways for the transport of bulk goods like grains, sand, ores or coal.
“Anything in West Virginia will come under your jurisdiction. Anything in Pennsylvania will come under ours,” Harshman said. “Obviously, things will cross jurisdictions, and that’s part of the attractiveness of this. This is multi-jurisdictional, multi-state and it’s a great opportunity to get more freight moving on our rivers.”
The designation request is supported by the Upper Mon River Association.
