UIPA, Commerce Crossroads to Launch Utah’s First Rural Inland Port

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
The 820-acre Commerce Crossroads industrial park will initially include office buildings and on-site products and services “to construct tailored processing facilities for customers,” according to BZI and Commerce Crossroads, whose plans for the park were recently approved by the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) Board. (Artist's Rendering: Commerce Crossroads)

The 820-acre Commerce Crossroads industrial park will initially include office buildings and on-site products and services “to construct tailored processing facilities for customers,” according to BZI and Commerce Crossroads, whose plans for the park were recently approved by the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) Board. (Artist's Rendering: Commerce Crossroads)

BZI and affiliate Commerce Crossroads™ on April 5 reported that their plans to develop an 820-acre rail-served industrial park and transportation hub in Cedar City, Utah, have been approved by the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) Board.

“The decision marks a collaborative partnership between Commerce Crossroads and the UIPA to establish the first rural inland port in the state of Utah,” the companies said. This hub, part of UIPA’s Iron Springs Project Area, will be the site of steel erection company BZI’s new headquarters, scheduled to break ground in 2024.

The Commerce Crossroads industrial park, to be developed by VISCO and served by Union Pacific (UP), will initially include office buildings and on-site products and services “to construct tailored processing facilities for customers,” according to BZI and Commerce Crossroads. Additionally, it will operate a new rail transload service, RailSync™, and an expanded short line service to individual facilities, reported the companies, which anticipate that technology, construction material manufacturing, data centers, ecommerce, and distribution, as well as office space and residential housing, will also be integrated.

“As this is the first rural inland port in the state, the Iron Springs Project Area will have a positive generational economic impact in Southern Utah,” said Ben Hart, UIPA Executive Director. “We look forward to working with Commerce Crossroads as they play a key role in the development of this facility and the site.”

In a related development, the Port of Long Beach (POLB), UIPA and UP in 2021 announced that they were adding capacity to an existing regularly scheduled direct rail intermodal service connecting the POLB to the Northwest Quadrant of Salt Lake City, part of UIPA’s jurisdictional area. The initiative was meant to “bring rapid relief from existing port congestion by optimizing rail deliveries between California and Utah.” UP provides the long-haul service from POLB to UIPA. Upon arrival, UIPA handles distribution via truck or rail to a new destination or to a distribution center.

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