The Port Thinks Big - and Bigger - and Bigger

The Port of Fernandina has completed its first draft of a 10-year master plan. It’s very long, and very technical, but here are a few key points to focus on when it comes up for a public hearing Jan. 19:

• Bulk cargo is changing and will grow. This is cargo that often is transported to the port by truck.
• Aggregates (mostly gravel) are on the rise, and will need to be stored in silos at the port.
• Fertilizers will be on the rise. They will need to be stored under cover. They can be volatile so will need to be protected.
• Lumber and plywood from South America (mostly Brazil) also will be on the rise.
• Containers are bigger now, and so are the ships that carry them. Nobody is making the smaller ships anymore. The port must adapt.
• Which means it will need to increase the length of its primary dock.
• And means a great deal of very expensive dredging must occur to create turnaround room for the larger ships.
• But an opportunity has presented itself to the port: cruise ships. Not the monsters you see at dock in Miami, but smaller ones like the American Cruise Lines ships that occasionally tie up at the city marina.
• But what to do with the passengers if Fernandina becomes a port of call?
• The port folks think they should set up and manage a transportation infrastructure system to get passengers five blocks from the dock to Centre Street and back and park the vehicles on lots the port owns outside its boundaries on Third St.
• They also think they will have to build a cruise terminal on land they don’t completely own.
• There will be a lot of changes inside the port as new turnarounds for trucks are constructed.
• The port is looking at new truck patterns, including one the neighborhood already hates: creating an in-out route on Dade and Escambia streets. Problem #1 Escambia is a fragile road and will need beefing up. Problem #2 Escambia crosses the Escambia Slough, which is a small but protected wetland. Problem #3 The neighbors hate the idea of being roped into a loop of truck traffic. The port clings to this idea, even though there are other alternatives.
• Several of the port's expansive ideas require it to either use property it owns outside its boundaries or partner with other owners to create terminals, truck turnarounds and so forth.
• The best solutions to the port’s growth ambitions lie far from the present port location in brand-new (or at least conceptualized) industrial parks off the island. Rail connections are critical. If cargo can be easily transferred by rail, there will be less truck traffic on the roads of Amelia Island.