On Nov. 2, the Port of Stockton held the official dedication ceremony for the new Marine Highway, a passageway to move cargo between the port, Oakland and Sacramento.
The purpose of the project is to move cargo off the highway, particularly Interstate 580, onto the Marine Highway, also known as the M-580.
The M-580 travels alongside the 580 corridor from the Port of Stockton to the Port of Oakland.
“The Marine Highway will help get cargo off the highways and onto our waterways, improving traffic on our roads while providing an efficient, environmentally friendly option within our freight system,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx during a news release.
According to Mark Tollini, the Deputy Port Director at the Port of Stockton, the M-580 will remove 350 trucks from the highways with every barge trip and more than 600 tons of toxic air emissions each day.
M-580 will be economically beneficial for Stockton.
“The project will assist local businesses reduce their overall transportation costs. This in turn will induce companies to expand or locate in Stockton to take advantage of a unique logistics opportunity. This will spur the creation of new jobs and expand the tax base for the city of Stockton,” said Tollini.
This $13 million project was funded by Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.
“Funding for the project was approved during 2010,” said Tollini, who added that it took three years.
Stockton selected the company Savage to operate M-580 at the port of Stockton.
With the TIGER grant, the Port of Stockton was able to purchase two 140-ton harbor cranes and two barges, according to a news release from Savage.