Air district funds give marine highway project boost | Recordnet.com

Air district funds give marine highway project boost | Recordnet.com

Air district funds give marine highway project boost
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By Alex Breitler
Record Staff Writer
August 19, 2011 12:00 AM
The Port of Stockton's marine highway project got another shot of funding Thursday, this time from San Joaquin Valley air cops, who hope to reduce the number of diesel-belching big rigs traveling daily over the Altamont Pass.

The project would allow some cargo containers to be shipped on barges rather than relying entirely on trucks.

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District approved another $750,000 in funding on top of a $13 million federal grant already landed by the port. The air district's money will help satisfy the federal requirement for matching local funds.

Under the terms of the grant, the marine highway must be open for business by February.

"We're very excited about the project, and we do appreciate the support of the air board staff," Port Director Richard Aschieris said earlier this week. "This will be a great service to the Central Valley."

Most often the air district uses its public funds to change out the old dirty engines of vehicles across the Valley, thus directly reducing pollution.

But in this case, air-quality officials say there's good reason to push for a new infrastructure at the port.

Today, shipping goods by truck from the Port of Oakland to a distribution center in or near Stockton often requires no fewer than four trips over the Altamont Pass.

To begin with, a truck from the Stockton area must head west to Oakland to pick up the container of goods. It then must drive back to Stockton, where the cargo is unloaded off the container, and then back to Oakland to drop off the empty container, before the truck finally comes back to Stockton.

Imagine that process repeated 1,600 times each day. That's the number of containers that move between the Valley and the Port of Oakland on a daily basis.

Under the new plan, two 140-ton cranes, several stories high, will allow the Stockton port to load hundreds of containers onto two barges that would make weekly trips to and from the Port of Oakland.

Up to 350 containers could be transported in a single trip on the marine highway.

Besides cleaning the air, supporters say the project should open up a new line of business for the port, which right now handles mostly bulk cargo as opposed to containers. Port officials have estimated the marine highway will generate nearly 340 construction and permanent jobs.

Some members of the air district sought assurance Thursday that the project would not siphon jobs from the trucking industry.

But in the end the board approved the funding without any dissenting votes.

Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston, who serves on the air district board, said the marine highway will take the city back to the days before Interstate 580, when barges were frequently used to send goods up the San Joaquin River to Stockton.

"I believe this is going to be a project that we're all going to be able to look at and say, 'We had a part in history,' " she told the board Thursday.

The marine highway from Stockton to Oakland is part of a greater $30 million plan that also includes the port in West Sacramento.

Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/breitlerblog.