Port of Miami in growth mode
Work on the $1 billion tunnel connecting Dodge Island to regional highways is underway. This summer, work is to begin on a rail line reconnecting the Port of Miami to the Hialeah Rail Yard, and dredging in one of its channels is to begin in coming months, Dredging Today reports.
Port Director Bill Johnson, speaking at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s annual goals conference, said the project implementation would help bringing major logistics centers to South Florida, making Miami port convenient for large ships calls.
The port and partner Florida East Coast Railway are to soon begin marketing jointly to make the case for Miami to the world’s largest shippers.
The region’s business community, Mr. Johnson said, needs to focus on “the box,” or the individual cargo container.
“The objective is to double the amount of cargo activity,” he said. The port in 2010 saw about 800,000 20-foot equivalent units, an industry measurement. “By 2020, in literally less than nine years, the Port of Miami should be double” that, he said.