Investment urged for growing port
A consultant sees a surge in business, but not without its costs.
By STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writer
Published November 29, 2007
Tampa's port can expect continued growth and the associated growing pains over the next two decades, according to a consultant's strategic plan.
Its fledgling container cargo trade should triple within about seven years while petroleum and construction material shipments will grow in step with the economy of the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida, says the report by Norbridge, a Massachusetts-based transportation consulting firm.
Keeping up will be costly. Buying additional land, building facilities and modernizing old ones will cost the Tampa Port Authority at least $850-million, probably much more. That doesn't count hundreds of millions that would be paid by private businesses and other government agencies.
"The port is in a very favorable position across most lines of business," said Jim Brennan, a partner with Norbridge. "It will continue to be the low-cost gateway to one of the largest and fastest-growing consumer markets in Florida and the Southeast."
Its study, in the works for 18 months, looks at how the port authority should deal with expected market changes and manage the 2,500 acres of the port it controls through 2027. A presentation for the public is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. today at the agency's headquarters on Channelside Drive.
One of the biggest projects on the horizon should be deepening Tampa Bay's shipping channel to 45 feet, the report recommends.
The current 43-foot depth of the channel, which stretches from west of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to downtown Tampa, won't be enough to handle larger tankers and container ships expected to call on Tampa in the future, said Brennan. Competing ports in Houston and Mobile, Ala., already have 45-foot channels. The study doesn't estimate the project's cost.
Tampa serves as entry point for gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel for the state's west coast and Central Florida. The port authority needs to expand berths where tankers unload, the study recommends. Officials should work with terminal operators long-term to develop storage tanks away from the crowded waterfront.
"Tampa will continue to be the energy gateway for that west/central Florida economy," says Brennan. "Nothing we see suggests any source of energy replacing petroleum in 20 years."
Cargo growth also will strain the region's roads and highways. Port officials should keep pushing for the I-4 Connector, a link the state plans to build between the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway and Interstate 4, and try to promote increased use of rail, the study says.
The port authority also must look for more land to accommodate industrial growth, a tough task in such a fast-growing region. But the challenges beat the alternative, says Brennan.
"If you have an economy with this growth potential ... it means more people, more business, more homes, more traffic on the highway," he says.
Fast facts
Spending priorities identified
A consultant suggests the Tampa Port Authority spend $850-million to $950-million in capital improvements over the next 20 years. Among the priorities:
- Improving Hooker's Point roadways
- Upgrading cruise terminals
- Building a petroleum berth
- Building facilities at Port Redwing and Eastport
- Deepening Tampa Bay's shipping channel to 45 feet
- Acquiring more property
Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.