California Ports Getting $1.5 Billion Upgrade
A few weeks after dockworkers and employers at the West Coast ports settled a new six-year tentative agreement, California’s gateways are getting an upgrade that could create 20,000 new jobs.
Governor Gavin Newsom said Thursday the state is investing more than $1.5 billion in California’s port system to “build a more efficient, sustainable and resilient supply chain.” The grants, which aid the state’s Port and Freight Infrastructure Program and Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, also include approximately $450 million allocated for zero-emission infrastructure, locomotives, vessels and vehicles.
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The Port of Los Angeles has been awarded $233 million in grants, while the Port of Long Beach received $383 million. The Port of Oakland got $119 million in funding, and the Port of Hueneme received $80 million.
Administered by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), $1.2 billion will go to 15 projects designed to increase the capacity to move goods throughout the state’s global trade gateways while lessening environmental impacts on neighboring communities.
The other $350 million was awarded to 13 projects that eliminate street-level rail crossings in an effort to improve safety, reduce emissions and move goods.
“CalSTA’s ‘Core Four’ priorities are safety, climate action, equity and economic prosperity, and the strategic investments announced today shine in all those areas,” said California State transportation secretary Toks Omishakin. “These awards—a direct result of Governor Newsom’s visionary leadership—will help maintain our state’s competitive edge in our nation-leading supply chain infrastructure and will create a cleaner, safer and more efficient goods movement system that will have a lasting positive impact for the people of California.”
Omishakin also pointed out that the state funding puts these projects in a stronger position to compete for “significant” federal infrastructure dollars from the Biden-Harris administration.
The grants are a result of the executive order Newsom issued in October 2021 that called on state agencies to develop longer-term budget proposals that support port operations and goods movement. The funding—particularly the investments in zero-emission projects, which account for nearly 40 percent of the state’s Port and Freight Infrastructure Program awards—also builds on a partnership between the governments of California and Japan announced in March to collaborate on strategies to cut pollution at seaports and establish green shipping corridors.
Port of Los Angeles infrastructure projects supported by the new state grants include the improvement and expansion of the Maritime Support Facility (MSF), which provides chassis and empty container storage for all 12 container terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, critical to facilitating goods movement throughout the complex. The project focuses on increasing port efficiency by slashing truck miles traveled inside the port and at its container terminals.
The L.A. port also received more than $80 million for roadway improvements including a new pedestrian bridge in Wilmington, Calif. and a project that augments an existing partial roadway that directly serves 10 percent of all waterborne containers entering and exiting the entire United States.
“This nearly quarter-billion-dollar investment in critical Port of Los Angeles projects—along with an additional $191 million in supporting regional projects—will accelerate our efforts to boost competitiveness, create jobs and enhance decarbonization efforts,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles in a statement.
For the Port of Long Beach, nearly $225 million of $338 million in grants will fund a variety of zero-emissions cargo-moving equipment and supportive infrastructure projects across the port, and include “top handlers” and other manually operated cargo-handling equipment, as well as tugboats and locomotives.
The remaining $158 million will go toward the planned Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility, which will shift more cargo from trucks to on-dock rail, where containers are taken to and from marine terminals by trains. The $1.6 billion facility will be built in phases, with construction scheduled to begin in 2024 and be completed in 2032.
“This game-changing grant will make a tremendous difference in our efforts to bring more business and jobs to the harbor, enhance the efficiency of cargo movement and accelerate the port’s ongoing transformation to zero-emission operations,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero in a statement.
Oakland’s funds are designed to modernize the marine terminals and arterial roadways throughout the ports.
“Implementing these projects will mean we can also address port-related supply chain congestion while continuing to ensure that we have modern, green, and efficient maritime facilities for the benefit of our customers, tenants and local residents,” said Port of Oakland maritime director Bryan Brandes.
