Posted on December 21, 2025
If built, the facility could potentially lead to hundreds of new jobs around its Washington County location.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s final two-year state budget proposal released Wednesday includes $35 million toward an inland port in Southwest Virginia.
The facility would move shipping containers by rail to and from the Port of Virginia in Hampton Roads and could potentially lead to hundreds of new jobs around its Washington County location if manufacturers, warehouses and other businesses develop around it.
The governor’s budget proposal says the $35 million would all be provided in fiscal year 2027 “to expedite 100 percent design development and necessary site improvement” and “shall support, but not be limited to, site readiness, infrastructure, and targeted industry recruitment.”
Youngkin on Wednesday called the inland port proposal “a really important investment in the future of Southwest Virginia but also the commonwealth” that would better connect Southwest Virginia companies with the Port of Virginia and the state’s rail system.
“When we begin to connect together our nationally leading infrastructure, all of Virginia will thrive,” he said.
Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, who takes office next month, has said an inland port in Southwest Virginia could be “absolutely transformational.”
The General Assembly will consider the state budget after it convenes Jan. 14 in Richmond. In even-numbered years, sessions typically last 60 days.
State lawmakers already have invested $12.5 million into planning the inland port.
The Virginia Port Authority has calculated a total cost estimate for the project but has not made the figure public.
Since 2023, the port authority has provided quarterly updates to the General Assembly about the project’s design work.
In the most recent update, dated Dec. 1, the authority said it had an estimated price tag after completing 60% of the design work. It also conducted an economic impact study.
The report did not include the price estimate or the study. Cardinal News requested them under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The port authority invoked its right to ask for more time to review the FOIA request.
Generally speaking, an inland port is a facility located a few hundred miles from a traditional maritime port. Trains carry shipping containers between the inland port and the seaside port more cheaply than if trucks ran that same distance. Inland ports can also reduce congestion at maritime ports.
This project is proposed for the 400-acre Oak Park Center for Business and Industry in Washington County. That’s close to Interstate 81 and a high-capacity Norfolk Southern rail line that already handles traffic to and from the Port of Virginia.
Washington County officials have agreed to support the port, with the county’s Industrial Development Authority voting last year to donate any Oak Park land needed for the project.
Virginia has one inland port already, near Front Royal in Warren County. It’s about 220 miles from the coast, but train access has allowed businesses to build warehouses and production facilities on cheaper land there.
A 2023 study floated a hypothetical estimate of $55 million to build a “modest-sized” inland port in Southwest Virginia that could generate 675 jobs directly on site and 695 indirect jobs and would yield $1.75 billion in economic benefits over 20 years.
Those numbers hinged on several key assumptions, including that the inland port would help attract three new manufacturing plants and two warehouse/distribution facilities that otherwise would not have set up shop in the area.
