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Port of Baltimore highlights ecological restoration, double‑stack rail and recovery progress
Summary
Maryland Port Administration leaders told the Eastern Shore delegation Feb. 14 that the port remains a key economic engine despite last year's Key Bridge collapse and wider supply‑chain disruptions, and described ongoing ecosystem restoration projects on Poplar Island and the Mid‑Bay Islands.
Maryland Port Administration Executive Director Jonathan Daniels and MPA staff updated the Eastern Shore delegation on Feb. 14, 2025, saying the port remains a major driver of jobs and commerce while continuing large aquatic ecosystem restoration projects on the Eastern Shore.
Daniels said the Port of Baltimore supported an estimated 273,000 Maryland jobs linked to port activity and that double‑stack container rail service into the Midwest began last October on a temporary route, increasing the port’s competitiveness until the Howard Street Tunnel work is completed. He said the rail service is expected to add roughly 60,000 containers of annual capacity and generate nearly 14,000 jobs in construction and longer‑term operations.
MPA director of navigation, innovation and stewardship Holly Miller described aquatic restoration work led by the port in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Miller updated the delegation on Poplar Island (Talbot County), which serves as a beneficial‑use site for dredged material from Maryland Bay channels and has restored more than 400 acres of wetlands on the island to date. MPA said the final Poplar Island project footprint will hold millions of cubic yards of dredged material and create remote‑island habitat when complete; Poplar tour season runs March through October, and the MPA reported about 2,479 visitors to Poplar in 2024.
Miller also briefed members on the Mid‑Bay Islands project in Dorchester County, which will place dredged material on Barren and James islands to recreate wetlands and remote habitat as Poplar approaches capacity. Phase 1 work on Barren Island — stone sills and breakwaters — finished in October; Phase 2 began recently and includes containment and sill work ahead of placement of dredged material. The team said Honga River maintenance dredging is expected around 2026 and that James Island design work is expected to conclude this fall.
Why it matters: The MPA framed these projects as both ecological restoration and long‑term infrastructure planning — the beneficial use of dredge material supports navigation (maintaining channels) while restoring habitat that supports fisheries and shoreline resilience.
Questions from delegates used the update to link restoration, recovery after last year’s Key Bridge collapse, and state attention to port operations. Daniels thanked the delegation for support on federal funding that helped accelerate Key Bridge reconstruction planning and said the MPA remains engaged with community stakeholders on both restoration and port recovery work.
Ending: MPA said it will continue community outreach through newsletters, public meetings and site tours as Mid‑Bay and Poplar Island work proceeds; the agency asked local officials to stay engaged as the projects move from engineering and protective works into material placement and habitat restoration.
