But just recently, Pereira said the county and three local stakeholders reached an agreement to move forward with the port’s deep dredge project, which would allow the Port to proceed with the deepening of its channel to -50 feet to accommodate larger container cargo vessels. It now awaits approval by the Board of County Commissioners.

Pereira said the timing of the announcement comes at a time when the port’s cruise operations are expanding. “We are known internationally for being the cruise capital of the world,” he said, explaining that Miami is the 11th largest cargo container port in the world (just under 900,000 TEUs), and currently has about 4.1 million passengers. Companies like Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity all have a presence here, and after the dredging is complete, bigger vessels can serve the area. “There will be a whole litany of brand new ships coming in as well,” he said.

The Port of Miami is exploring the possibility of “mega cruise terminal” that can handle four oasis class ships at a given time with 6,000 passengers each. “We could possibly handle 24,000 passengers simultaneously,” Pereira estimated.

The state is also planning to develop a new intermodal facility on Port lands, which will consolidate car rental facilities, taxis and buses into one building. The transit hub will also have an elevated train that will provide linkages back to the downtown.

Pereira said the transit plan is also being pushed due to congestion in the city’s central business district. “We have 100,000 people going downtown, so once you’re filled and having a downtown that’s revitalized, you are asking for more traffic,” he said. In an effort to alleviate that, the Florida Department of Transportation is planning a tunnel that would connect the port to the interstate system. “ It is basically two tubes going from the highway under the north channel coming up into the center portion of the island and back,” he said, noting that the tunnel boring machine is one-third of the way through to the island. It is expected to reduce downtown traffic by 60% to 70%.

The Port is also working out a plan for the city’s southwest corner, also known as a the World Trade Center. But this isn’t the same one in Lower Manhattan. “This is a 36-acre site that is currently underutilized,” Pereira said, noting that a mix of uses, including apartments, retail and office, are in the works. “We are trying to reintegrate better into the city,” he adds.

The Port, which generates 176,000 direct and indirect jobs and $18 billion to the local economy, estimates that the dredging will be complete by 2014.

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