Utah should consider the creation of an inland port in Salt Lake City.

What’s an inland port? Imagine what goes on at a seaport, just without the sea. Goods come in — either through rail, air or ground transportation. Goods then go out — but before they do, they’re distributed, warehoused or reloaded for eventual transportation elsewhere.

Some of Utah’s best economic minds are salivating at the prospect of an inland port. A preliminary study commissioned by World Trade Center Utah and conducted by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, found numerous reasons why an inland port in Salt Lake City might make sense. They include:

1. E-commerce. According to researchers at the commercial real-estate firm CBRE, inland ports represent an outsized portion of “the fastest growing industrial markets in the U.S. because they are key way stations in the national e-commerce distribution network.” David Egan, CBRE’s head of Industrial & Logistics Research in the Americas, said last year: “As online commerce continues to expand, more shippers, retailers and logistics firms will seek top-quality, big-box warehouses in the leading inland-port markets to serve as critical links in their supply chains.”

2. Salt Lake City’s optimal location at the crossroads of the West. More than perhaps any other city in the Mountain West, Salt Lake City connects all others through multiple forms of transportation. The three major Union Pacific rail lines, for example, starting in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, funnel east through Salt Lake City. Going the opposite way, only one major Union Pacific rail line doesn’t go through Salt Lake City. Looking heavenward, more Delta flights connect and depart from Salt Lake City than any other peer city in the Mountain West. Meanwhile, the city’s centralized location makes it ideal for truck distribution. It’s little wonder why UPS recently chose Salt Lake City for its new 900,000-square-foot regional-hub facility.

3. Prison and expanded airport infrastructure. In recent years, Utah has made major decisions to move the state’s largest prison west of Salt Lake City and to spend nearly $3 billion to rebuild and expand Salt Lake City International Airport. Both projects will provide significant infrastructure enhancements in the same area where public officials are looking to locate an inland port. Thus, the project would draw on the infrastructure being put in place, which create spending synergies that would reduce the port’s sticker price.

In a fiscally conservative state, there will be those who worry about the costs. Such concerns are not frivolous and should be weighed carefully as lawmakers look to balance the potential benefits against the price tag.

In the 19th century, Utah’s pioneer settlements served as important transportation stations for travelers throughout the West. In 1863, one noted traveler, Ralph Waldo Emerson, recorded in his journal: “One must thank the genius of Brigham Young for the creation of Salt Lake City — an inestimable hospitality to the over-land emigrants, and an efficient example to all men in the vast desert, teaching how to subdue and turn it to a habitable garden.” In the global economy, Utah must once again become a hub in the intercontinental supply chain, helping the state remain relevant as a 21st century crossroads of the West. This means increased international exchanges, engagement and trade — it may also mean an inland port.