Time to Update Port Master Plan

Time to Update Port Master Plan

January 11, 2025

By Rodger Rees, Galveston Wharves Port Director and CEO

Our 20-Year Strategic Master Plan has served us well since the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees adopted it in 2019. The comprehensive plan has been our roadmap for major capital projects to grow our business while managing potential community impacts.

Now it’s time for an update. Here’s why.

Major Projects Completed

First, we’ve completed or are near completing several major capital projects recommended in the business-driven plan, including the following:

• Cruise Terminal 10 – Our third cruise terminal, a $125 million project at Pier 10, opened in late 2022 to expand Royal Caribbean sailings.
• Cruise Terminal 16 – Our $156 million cruise terminal and parking garage will open at Pier 16 this November to homeport MSC and Norwegian cruise ships.
• West Port Cargo Complex – We’re investing almost $100 million in cargo infrastructure improvements to expand our cargo business. Construction on this major project includes enclosing two slips to expand dock and laydown space to handle more cargo.
• Internal Roadway – We’re beginning the last two phases of this multi-phase project to help alleviate port-related traffic on Harborside Drive.
• Harborside Walkover – We’ve begun engineering and secured state funding to restore and reopen the pedestrian skywalk at 25^th Street to give cruise passengers and visitors safe access between downtown and cruise terminals 25 and 28. 

Evaluate What Remains

Second, much has changed in the last five years, including a more robust cruise business, rising construction costs and community interests. Two new topics of community interest are a new home for the USS Texas and the excellent Stoss Report, which proposes major public improvements in port-owned waterfront commercial areas.

The update would consider how dramatic global changes in the cruise and cargo businesses could impact the port’s business in the coming years. Thanks to the master plan, the port has ridden the wave of the growing cruise business.

We want to understand what’s coming in the next 5-10 years so we can be ready. We’re a port with room to grow as the only major cruise port serving the central U.S. We’re also poised to capture more cargo business as we expand our cargo area and improve waterfront infrastructure.

I’d like to see business and traffic analyses, as well as community input, on a fifth cruise terminal between terminals 10 and 16 to help us make an informed decision. This also applies to a port location for the USS Texas and the development of public amenities in the port’s commercial area around Pier 21. Public input will be part of the update process, just as it was for the current master plan.

Still Much to Do

Third, much in the 2019 plan remains to be done, including more dock and wharf improvements, development of more than 350 acres on Pelican Island, drainage issues, and a public boardwalk, to name a few.

A master plan update would include an evaluation of those projects, along with new opportunities and updated cost estimates. Armed with this information, we’ll be prepared to continue to maximize our port assets and remain a strong community asset.