The process of improving the economic viability of Connecticut’s three seaports will begin with new lights.
The State Bond Commission on March 13 approved $6.1 million in improvements for the New London port and State Pier, installing an energy-efficient lighting system and improving the ship loading and offloading facilities.
“The point is to make it a grander facility to create more jobs and cargo,” said Chuck Beck, transportation maritime manager for the state Department of Transportation, who made the request to the bond commission. “The greater variety of the cargo, the more cargo, the more steady the work.”
The small start at New London was among the recommendations in the state’s study to increase economic viability at the deepwater ports in New London, New Haven, and Bridgeport.
The study encourages the state to find shipping niches and other maritime services New London, New Haven, and Bridgeport such as importing fresh food, exporting scrap metal and wood pellets, and reopening a shipyard — all made possible by port infrastructure upgrades.
While the $6.1 million is the beginning of the process, the port improvements still have a long road to completion. The port study recommended the state invest up to $114 million in various improvements. Many of the recommendations are contingent on the state creating a public-private partnership so the businesses benefitting most from the improvement help foot the bill.
“It was supposed to be a market-driven infrastructure improvement,” said Judi Sheiffele, executive director of the New Haven Port Authority.
To help smooth out the scattered improvement requests from various agencies, the state General Assembly this year is considering creating a statewide port authority to better coordinate efforts, especially soliciting a new private partner for the State Pier.
“A statewide port authority has been something that has been needed for the past 20 years,” said State Rep. Antonio Guerrera (D-Rocky Hill), co-chair of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. “This is important in connecting Connecticut to other ports like Boston and New York.”
Although proposed in previous years, Guerrera said the statewide port authority has a chance of passing this year because of the momentum built by the September study.
“It is definitely going to make its way out of the (transportation) committee,” Guerrera said. “It does have the backing of a lot of legislators.”
Even if the legislation makes it to the House and Senate floors to pass into law, the authority, once created, will have a significant uphill climb.
Just in New London, the $6.1 million in improvements barely scratch the surface of what is needed. A 2011 deficiency study of the State Pier calls for the 100-year-old facility to add new signage, dredge both sides of the pier, improving the security features, relocating the public boat launch, and constructing a new 100,000-square-foot warehouse, among many other upgrades.
This funding-dependent process in New London seeks the same result the state wants to achieve in New Haven and Bridgeport — for freight companies to see the three ports as viable maritime destinations, instead of docking in New York or Boston and sending cargo to Connecticut via truck.
“That hopefully is the end game, but you have to have your facility as such to make it attractive to those freight forwarders,” Beck said.
The New London port has the longest way to go of the three, but New Haven and Bridgeport have lengthy to-do lists.
One of the key improvements in the near future at New Haven is dredging the channel to 35-feet or deeper so larger ships can dock at the facility. The $10 million cost of the dredging is expected to be approved in the federal budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the middle of the year.
“Since Connecticut won’t have to pay for the dredging, we hope there will be an opportunity for us to put in other projects that will qualify for state funding,” Sheiffele said.
New Haven needs addressed in the September study included $11 million for rail spurs and street improvements and $14 million to expand the port’s land for better strategic use.
“It has to become more of an intermodal port with both rail and boats,” Sheiffele said.
In Bridgeport, the key will be helping the city port authority bring back ship repair services to the yard left vacant by shipbuilder Derecktor’s bankruptcy, along with continuing ferry services out of the city.
“If the state really does value that these ports are an asset, they would need to establish a statewide authority,” Sheiffele said.
By increasing the use of waterways for shipping, a statewide port authority would ease the strain on Connecticut’s other transportation systems, especially roads, Guerrera said.
“We need to fully utilize all our facilities,” Guerrera said.
