In Editorial page submission, Prince Port Authority Chair Bud Smith outlines the Prince Rupert solution ...

With expansion plans and range of other initiatives
the Port of Prince Rupert's Chair is spreading the word of the how the
Port has shipping solutions for both North American and global shippers
(photo from Prince Rupert Port Authority)

With a new trade deal about to kick in and future opportunities for global trade on the horizon, Bud Smith the Chair of the Port of Prince Rupert has invited the global shipping community to cast their eyes north to Prince Rupert, where access to North American markets and a gateway to Asia is an opportunity that is there for the taking.

The essay of what Prince Rupert has to offer appeared over the weekend in the editorial pages of the Vancouver Sun, with Mr. Smith making note over concerns about constraints on growth of port facilities along the Pacific coast, a theme that is currently playing out in Vancouver with growing opposition to expansion plans for a number of Port facilities in the Lower Mainland.

His contribution to the Sun reviews many of the issues facing port development in Vancouver the other major ports of Pacific which beyond the opposition to any further expansion also finds transportation issues in the way of gridlock at the terminals and on the roads

PRPA Chair Bud Smith has
delivered a testimony of the
Prince Rupert options for global
shippers through an editorial page
submission to the Vancouver Sun
(photo from PRPA website)

To all those that are looking for a new entry point, the Port Chair has outlined the strategic elements of the Port, which include a competitive location and workforce, room for continued expansion,  along with strong community and First Nations support.

Highlighting the Port of Prince Rupert's status as home to the second largest container terminal in Canada, along with its other terminal facilities which provided facilities for a range of materials.

One paragraph from the Editorial offers up a glimpse as to the plans ahead for the Prince Rupert Port footprint in the region, which includes expanded capacity for container shipments, common use infrastructure and a road transportation plan that will remove 100 percent of the truck traffic from the residential and downtown streets of the city.

With long-term ability to develop capacity for over 100 million tonnes, and potential to achieve five to seven million TEUs of container throughput, the future is promising. The Port continues to proactively plan for the common-user infrastructure growth — including rail, road and marine — to ensure transportation remains safe, fast, fluid and reliable. The result is a development plan that will not only avoid bottlenecks before they occur, but will also remove 100 per cent of associated truck traffic from residential/commercial city streets, thus minimizing the port’s footprint on the environment and our neighbouring communities.

The prospect of further expansion and the jobs that come with it will be of much interest for the community however for something that will have a day to day impact on life in the city, it will be the final line of that segment of his presentation one that will resonate loudly and with wide acceptance from those living in Prince Rupert.

The full editorial page notes from the Sun can be reviewed here.

For more items of note related to Port development see our archive page.


Cross posted from the North Coast Review