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Port director outlines $1.3B-plus investments, harbor modernization, and new intermodal links
Summary
Port Director John Driscoll briefed the committee on port economic impact, ongoing harbor deepening and widening, container-terminal expansions, coal-terminal investments, rail connectivity, and a planned Montgomery intermodal facility.
John Driscoll, director of the Port Authority, gave the committee an update on investments and projects at the port, including harbor modernization, terminal expansion, rail connections and new intermodal facilities.
Driscoll said a 2022 economic-impact study attributed about $98 billion in statewide economic value to the port gateway and linked roughly 351,000 jobs to port-related activity; tax impacts for 2022 were reported at about $2.4 billion. He said those figures will likely be updated in a future study.
Driscoll described a $366 million harbor modernization program to widen and deepen the channel to 50 feet; the state has committed up to $150 million to the project. He said work is on schedule though some dredging phases have shifted, and that berth dredging and related upland work will be phased over the next two-plus years. The deeper channel will enable larger vessels and support growth in containerized cargo, the McDuffie Coal Terminal and Pinto Island Terminal.
On the container terminal, Driscoll said roughly $1.3 billion in total investments have been made since the facility opened, including about $320 million by APM Terminals. He said two ship-to-shore gantry cranes were added last year and that planned Phase 4 work will increase annual capacity toward 1 million TEUs from roughly 550,000 today.
Driscoll said the McDuffie Coal Terminal has transitioned to exports of metallurgical coal and that the authority expects more than $200 million in total investments by 2027, including a $20 million legislative appropriation passed in 2023 and a potential loan of up to $100 million to replace large stacker-reclaimer equipment (two units estimated about $32 million each).
At the older Upper Harbor terminals, Driscoll described investments in rail, pier repairs and equipment upgrades. He said the authority operates a switching railroad of about 75 miles of track and that nine railroads touch the port gateway, including five Class I carriers — a competitive advantage compared with other U.S. gateways.
Intermodal work includes a Montgomery intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF) scheduled to break ground next week. Driscoll said that project is about $90 million, with roughly $60 million in federal funding and additional port and private contributions; CSX will be the rail carrier serving the terminal. He said APMT is investing about $94 million in a Mobile ICTF expansion that will eventually handle about 450,000 TEUs, and that the port expects the Montgomery facility to move tens of thousands of TEUs annually, relieving truck traffic on I-65.
Driscoll invited committee questions and discussed underutilization at the roll-on/roll-off vehicle terminal; he said the facility’s current throughput is a fraction of its capacity and that longer-term shipping-line contracts influence where vehicles call. Committee members thanked Driscoll and noted ongoing legislative and local support for port projects.
Driscoll concluded by noting the port’s strategic focus on multimodal logistics and intermodal options to support continued growth.
