Business reps call for continued aid, accommodations as Port of Baltimore channel reopens – Maryland Daily Record

Business advocates this week called for shipping accommodations and for aid programs to continue as the Port of Baltimore’s main shipping channel nears a full reopening.

While state and federal assistance has bolstered the port economy in the two months since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, killing six construction workers, economists and business leaders have said they expect uncertainty to remain for employers who’ve relied on the port for shipping, logistics services and other business operations.

A coalition of business advocacy organizations stated that disruptions to operations at the port have hurt employers across the state and throughout the region, and they used a recent report to recommend ways to sustain the regional economy and supply chain in the years before the Key Bridge is rebuilt.

The coalition recommended temporarily increasing weight limits for road shipping and extending service hours for truckers to reduce delays, and, to alleviate transportation costs and road congestion, establishing a barge service for container transport from the Port of Virginia in Norfolk to the Tradepoint Atlantic global logistics hub at Sparrows Point, formerly home to a Bethlehem Steel mill.

Mary Kane, an attorney who was the secretary of state under former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich and is now the president and CEO of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, said that all eyes were on Baltimore after the bridge fell, but her organization and others saw that disruptions would ripple far beyond the city.

The port and the Key Bridge are vital to the national economy and regional shipping network have also been a central part of the argument that Maryland’s federal delegation and Democratic Gov. Wes Moore have used in lobbying Congress to approve full funding to rebuild the bridge.

“We wanted to make sure that folks understood that it wasn’t just Baltimore,” Kane said in a recent virtual interview. “Of course it’s going to hit Baltimore hard. … But it also affected agricultural folks in the Midwest because all the roll-on, roll-off traffic and all of the big machinery that they need comes through the Port of Baltimore.”

With the Dali cargo ship that brought down the Key Bridge now cleared from the middle of the Patapsco River, along with much of the bridge and road debris, the port’s main shipping channel is expected to fully reopen by June 10.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initially planned for the end of May, though members of the Key Bridge Unified Command have stated that spring thunderstorms delayed work and they need more time to clear wreckage from the river.

Even once the full channel reopens, it will take time for companies to resume normal shipping routes, for warehouses to accumulate shipments and, generally, for operations to near their pre-collapse levels, Maryland economists have said.

Kane and other coalition members have also called for continued financial assistance for businesses that have lost revenue and suffered higher operating costs following the bridge collapse.

The Building Bridges to Recovery Coalition — comprising the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Baltimore Committee, the World Trade Center Institute, the Greater Washington Partnership and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — published its recommendations as part of a report analyzing how the bridge collapse has affected various industries.

Data the coalition cited in the report was from an online survey in which about 50 businesses participated.

Both the federal and state governments have recently wound down aid programs for port businesses, and the report states that some business owners were concerned about the financial burden of taking on debt through low-interest federal loans.

Multiple state aid programs remain open, including supplemental income for employees and grants and no-interest loans for businesses.

Maryland economists have said port businesses fared better than they expected, though they’ve said it will be vital for the Baltimore, state and regional economies for workers to resume their jobs.

Most jobs at the Port of Baltimore are part of the state’s transportation, warehousing and utilities sector, which saw a decrease of 1,000 jobs in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Maryland otherwise added 7,800 total jobs last month.

Businesses reliant on the port have had to reroute their imports to other East Coast ports, delaying shipments and increasing costs, the coalition’s report states. Their workforce has dealt with longer commute times and congested roads, hindering their productivity and lowering morale amid the persistent threat of layoffs and continued financial strain.

The Key Bridge is likely years from being rebuilt, so companies will have to continue to adjust to new transportation routes and ways of operating, including the potential for cargo traffic to reroute to other ports, the report states.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld has said that rebuilding the Key Bridge could take around four years and cost up to $1.9 billion.

After meeting in April with potential consultants, contractors and subcontractors as part of the bidding process for constructing a new bridge, the Maryland Transportation Authority — an independent state agency responsible for the state’s eight toll facilities, including the Key Bridge — was expected to send out a request for proposals in late May or early June.

The authority is expected to then move forward with a notice to proceed in the early part of the summer.