Not content to wait for Congress to pass a big infrastructure spending bill, Gavin Newsom and Pete Buttigieg moved on Thursday to inject $5 billion in loan money to help modernize California’s seaports.
The money won’t help unclog the severe congestion that’s creating seaport chaos at present, but the two say that modernizing ports and the truck and rail systems that serve them can prevent logistics nightmares in the future.
“Our supply chains are being put to the test, with unprecedented consumer demand and pandemic-driven disruptions combining with the results of decades-long underinvestment in our infrastructure,” Buttigieg, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said in a prepared statement. “Today’s announcement marks an innovative partnership with California that will help modernize our infrastructure, confront climate change, speed the movement of goods and grow our economy.”
What the money would be spent on remains vague. The California State Transportation Agency, also known as CalSTA, listed port upgrades, more freight rail capacity, increased warehouse storage, truck and rail electrification, highway upgrades and other general categories as possibilities.
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