SeaPort Manatee is getting $12 million in federal dollars for a new project
SeaPort Manatee in Palmetto has been awarded a $12 million grant to expand its container yard facilities providing additional cargo-handling space and an access road, the port said in a press release Thursday.
The project will help the port sustainits growth and thrive as a vital part of the supply chain for U.S. Eastern Seaboard as its cargo volumes continue to rise.
It is projected to have economic benefits locally, regionally and nationally, chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority Reggie Bellamy said in the release.
The U.S. Department of Transportation provided a federal investment of $11,953,492. The remaining money for the project will come from grants from the Florida Department of Transportation and SeaPort Manatee revenue totaling $2,147,650 each.
SeaPort Manatee is now requesting bids for the expansion project, with a goal of starting construction in 2023 and finishing by 2025.
Planned are the design and construction of 16.56 acres of extra cargo-handling area, a new container yard access road, and the installation of electrical systems for two new mobile harbor cranes that arrived at the port in April.
The port’s next development phase will add to 18 acres of container yard already finished adjacent to SeaPort Manatee’s berths 12 and 14, as well as 6.62 acres under construction and scheduled for completion in mid-2023. The first stages of the project have gone forward because of more than $18 million in federal, state, and local funding.
“SeaPort Manatee is extremely grateful to the USDOT and FDOT for their support of this crucial project, which should furnish sufficient cargo-handling capacity to accommodate burgeoning activity at the seaport through approximately 2041,” SeaPort Manatee Executive Director Carlos Buqueras said in the press release.
The SeaPort Manatee project is one of 26 projects for which U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a total of $1.5 billion in Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) competitive grant funding, describing the funds as “transformative investments.”
SeaPort Manatee is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the Panama Canal, with 10 deep-draft ports capable of meeting the needs of container, liquid and dry bulk, breakbulk, heavylift, project and general cargo clients.
The release said that the port generates more than $5.1 billion in yearly economic impact while supporting more than 37,000 direct and indirect employment — all without the assistance of local property taxes.
