Once a year, leaders in transportation and trade come together to discuss the \u201cState of the Ports\u201d and what the future holds.<\/p>\n
Could a second airport be coming to Miami-Dade?<\/p>\n
Last week, the county commission moved forward with studying the possibility, warning that Miami International Airport could reach capacity within the next 15 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working through that right now. It is a long process that takes anywhere from 15 to 20 years,\u201d said Ralph Cutie, Director and CEO of Miami International Airport.<\/p>\n
As for expanding PortMiami, Director and CEO Hydi Webb says building outward isn\u2019t an option.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really can\u2019t build on our island and make it bigger, but what we are doing is building vertically,\u201d Webb said.<\/p>\n
These are just some of the discussions highlighted at this year\u2019s \u201cState of the Ports\u201d event, which examines how the industry is adapting to growing demand, population increases, and rising tourism.<\/p>\n
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava emphasized the need to stay ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to make sure that we stay not only current, but that we get ahead\u2014that\u2019s why we call it \u2018future-ready,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cutie says the airport\u2019s Capital Improvement Plan now totals $14 billion. The plan will roll out over the next 15 years to accommodate an estimated 77 million passengers and 4.2 million tons of cargo by 2040.<\/p>\n
That includes major upgrades across the airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom replacing all of our passenger loading bridges to upgrading elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and renovating all of our restrooms,\u201d Cutie said.<\/p>\n
There are also improvements planned for concourses and terminals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a new Concourse K under construction\u2014a $750 million project expected to be completed by 2029. Concourse D60, a $1.1 billion project, will break ground in 2027 and be completed by 2030,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Another major focus is cargo. Cutie says volume has grown for six consecutive years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are finalizing our cargo development master plan, which will add a few million square feet to our cargo facilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At PortMiami, the strategy is similar\u2014grow upward and operate more efficiently.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are stacking containers higher with modern infrastructure. We\u2019re also building garages and facilities that can include parking, intermodal areas, and even office space,\u201d Webb said.<\/p>\n
She added that future plans could include shifting some operations off-site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are studying the concept of an inland port\u2014looking at what functions we can move off the port, like empty container storage,\u201d Webb explained.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to note that these projects are expected to be funded through public-private partnerships, not taxpayer dollars, according to Tax Collector Dariel Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Once a year, leaders in transportation and trade come together to discuss the \u201cState of the Ports\u201d and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[109186,123,125,124,1064],"class_list":["post-249104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-aeropuerto-internacional-de-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-dade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}