Port of Long Beach to Continue Modernization

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved a $748 million budget for the Port of Long Beach in the next fiscal year, with more than 60 percent set aside to continue a modernization program that is the largest of any U.S. seaport.

The budget will be now presented to the Long Beach City Council for approval.

For the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, 2017, the Port plans to spend $457 million on capital projects — part of this decade’s $4 billion program to increase efficiency by upgrading terminals, waterways, bridges, rail lines, marine safety and other vital infrastructure.

“This spending blueprint advances the nation’s largest seaport modernization program and our practice of investing revenue back into our harbor, a leading economic engine for this region, the state and the nation,” said Harbor Commission President Lori Ann Guzmán.

Ongoing major capital improvement projects include the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement and the Middle Harbor redevelopment, a model for green cargo operations and the most advanced facility of its kind in the world.