February 8, 2025
By Rodger Rees, Galveston Wharves Port Director and CEO
Exciting news! Galveston Wharves is updating its 20-Year Strategic Master Plan to prepare for growth in its three main business lines – cruise, cargo and commercial.
Traffic Management
A big focus in the master plan update also will be how we can continue to efficiently manage traffic on and around Harborside Drive as our cruise, cargo and commercial businesses grow. Our current master plan includes a 2.25-mile-long internal roadway, cueing lanes at cruise terminals and on-site parking garages.
Those recommendations are already having a positive impact. We’re looking forward to seeing what recommendations the consultants make in the updated plan to accommodate future port growth.
We continue to make infrastructure improvements at cruise terminals 25 and 28, the port’s first two cruise terminals. We’re adding more cueing lanes in the terminal area to move traffic off Harborside on cruise days to reduce congestion.
Moving cruise traffic off Harborside is one solution. Another is understanding traffic patterns to better manage traffic flow.
In the coming weeks, port staff will be leveraging data from Waze for Cities to analyze traffic patterns on cruise days versus non-cruise days to get a true understanding of the impacts. Port staff and the master plan consultants will use this data to design long-term infrastructure and traffic management solutions.
Safety is another port priority. We’ll present the results of a federally funded Safe Streets study to improve vehicle and pedestrian safety at our Wharves Board of Trustees meeting on March 4. The next step will be to seek grant funding to implement the recommendations. Master plan consultants can consider these recommendations as they do their research.
An Updated Roadmap for Growth
The updated master plan will evaluate all that we’ve accomplished to date and lay a foundation for continued growth based on new cruise and cargo forecasts and port and community goals.
First adopted by the board in 2019, the master plan has served us well. The comprehensive plan has been our roadmap for major capital projects to grow our business and maximize port assets while managing potential community impacts.
Much has changed in the last five years. For example, the cruise business is growing faster than forecast, construction costs continue to rise, and we’ve received state funding to jump-start cargo expansion. We also want the updated plan to consider locations for the USS Texas, public areas on the waterfront, and safely connecting the port’s waterfront commercial areas to downtown.
Several items in the current plan will be addressed, including dock and wharf improvements, development potential for port acreage on Pelican Island, drainage improvements, and a public boardwalk, to name a few.
Master plan consultants will evaluate these projects, update cost estimates and identify new opportunities. Consultants also will hold workshops and public meetings to gather input from Wharves Board members, port partners and the community.
Armed with this information, we’ll be prepared to continue to maximize our port assets and remain a strong community asset.
