Port Entering A New Era With Change In The Works

The Port of Saint John has to redefine itself. That word from Port Authority President and C-E-O Jim Quinn as it looks for new cargo after being told its under utilised. Quinn tells CHSJ News the port will have to reconnect with the international marketplace.

Quinn says most of the port is actually in pretty good shape but tens of millions of dollars will have to be spent on its wharves on the lower west side.

Quinn says its hoped a new land use plan for the port will be in place by June. The port also wants to shift cargo handling from Long Wharf to where the sugar refinery operated but land that's contaminated there will have to be cleaned up.

The port has also been told it's unlikely container traffic will reach previous levels. The Citizens Advisory Committee of Plan SJ has been toying with the idea of a pedestrian ferry that would go from the lower west side to the uptown.

A public meeting on the port's new land use plan is scheduled April 19th and will likely be held on the west side.