UP eyes expansion of Port Laredo Intermodal Ramp

Union Pacific Railroad has plans to invest $90 million to expand operations at its Port Laredo Intermodal Ramp in North Laredo, Texas, according to a newspaper report.

Brenda Mainwaring, UP's vice president of public affairs for the southern region, announced the company's intentions during a speech at the 22nd annual Logistics and Manufacturing Symposium at Texas A&M International University, the Laredo Morning Times reported last week.

"There's so much business in Laredo that we need to expand our capacity in order to handle all the business," she said, according to the newspaper.

The project will be completed in two phases. The first, which is under way, involves construction of a new entrance with automatic gates that will enable the facility to operate around the clock.

The second phase will double the facility's size and truckload capacity. That phase won't begin until UP determines how customers use the facility during the first phase, Mainwaring said, according to the article.

The UP Port Laredo Intermodal Ramp is located off Interstate 35.