NEW ORLEANS — The Port of New Orleans is celebrating funding that demonstrates the state’s support for Louisiana International Terminal (LIT), a $1.8 billion project proposed for a 400-acre tract in St. Bernard Parish.
The recent 2024 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature committed $230.5 million to Port NOLA infrastructure projects including the LIT and the St. Bernard Transportation Corridor, which would connect the new terminal to the interstate system.
LIT is currently in the federal permitting process. If approved, construction is expected to begin in 2025. The first berth could open as soon as 2028.
The project, which is designed to keep Port NOLA competitive with ports in Mobile and Houston, has wide support throughout the state but it is opposed by a group of St. Bernard residents and some in parish government.
“We want to thank Gov. Jeff Landry and the Louisiana Legislature for this significant funding commitment,” said Ronald Wendel Jr., Port NOLA acting president and CEO and acting CEO of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, in a press release. “These critical infrastructure projects will solidify Louisiana’s position as the premier global gateway in the Gulf, ensuring thousands of jobs as well as long-term economic growth for the region and state.”
This month, Wendel stepped in for Brandy Christian, the port’s longtime CEO who is leaving New Orleans for a private sector job in Jacksonville, Florida.
Port NOLA said LIT received $10 million in direct state general funding and $140 million in “Priority 5” state funding that will support design and construction activities. An additional $50 million in state funding will support construction of the St. Bernard Transportation Corridor. Another $30.5 million will be directed toward rehabilitation, planning and construction of the St. Claude Bridge.
Opponents to the container terminal are concerned about increased truck traffic on surface streets. The Port believes the proposed corridor will solve the problem. Last year, the Regional Planning Commission awarded a contract to GIS Engineering LLC to study the corridor and other roadway improvements.
If approved, LIT will be built in Violet, Louisiana, 17 miles downriver from the Crescent City Connection bridge. The port said it will allow it to “serve vessels of all sizes, dramatically increasing Louisiana’s import and export capacity, foster strategic inland growth and allow both container-on-barge and intermodal services to expand.”
The port said LIT will generate more than 18,000 jobs in Louisiana and 4,300 in St. Bernard Parish alone.
“Louisiana lawmakers have clearly spoken with this legislation, which will help build one of the state’s most critical transportation assets – The Louisiana International Terminal,” said Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc. “Not only will this project generate thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenues, it will ensure that Louisiana continues to lead in international trade, its raison d’être.”
The federal government committed $300 million to Port NOLA earlier this year to assist in building LIT. If it moves forward, the project will be built through a public-private partnership between Port NOLA and two private terminal operators: New Jersey-based Ports America and Geneva, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company. The two combined have committed $800 million toward LIT.
