Stacked containers and cranes are shown at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The state of California has issued a call for projects for the $1.2 billion in one-time state funding for port and freight infrastructure projects.
Finalized in the state budget at the end of June, the Port and Freight Infrastructure Program aims to make long-term upgrades that will increase the capacity to move goods throughout the state while lessening environmental impacts.
“California’s ports are critical to exporting and importing goods both abroad and throughout the United States,” said Governor Newsom. “After decades of neglect, we are finally making the critical investments needed to modernize our ports – helping us to keep up with demand in a way that is environmentally sustainable and brings our distribution process into the 21st Century.”
Seventy percent of the program funding will go to projects that support goods movement through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, while 30 percent will fund ports and goods movement infrastructure in the rest of the state.
The record funding comes after California ports faced the worst congestion in the nation in 2021 amid supply chain disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Congestion has since eased significantly.
The Port and Freight Infrastructure Program is a direct result of the executive order Governor Newsom issued last October that called on state agencies to develop longer term budget proposals that support port operations and goods movement.
The California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) last week issued final guidelines and the call for projects. Project applications are due January 13, 2023, and CalSTA expects to announce the funding awards in March 2023
“Thanks to Governor Newsom’s leadership, California is investing in our nation-leading supply chain infrastructure like never before to support a cleaner and more dynamic goods movement system that will power our economy for decades,” CalSTA Secretary Toks Omishakin said. “I look forward to identifying priority projects as we look to maximize this historic one-time investment.”
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