Port of Oswego Lands $4.693MM for Rail Upgrades
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
(Photograph Courtesy of Port of Oswego Authority)
New York’s Port of Oswego has received two grants totaling $4.693 million to boost rail capacity, improve rail safety, and support the state’s green energy and electric policies. The funding is part of New York’s recently announced $111 million investment in 38 projects through the Passenger and Freight Rail Assistance Program.
The Port of Oswego will use a $2.861 million grant to add storage track capacity, improve rail safety, and deploy an upgraded unloading method for agricultural products, according to the New York State Department of Transportation, which administers the Passenger and Freight Rail Assistance Program. A separate $1.832 million grant will go toward the purchase of a zero-emission electric railcar mover, which will help the Port reduce its carbon footprint.
The Port of Oswego, the first port on the Great Lakes system and the only deep-water port on Lake Ontario, has four operating businesses that use its harbor and two marinas, which are said to be integral to Central New York’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Customers include Novelis, Perdue Agribusiness, Crop Production Services, LaFarge, Sprague Energy, ESSROC, ARG International, Albecour Inc., Glencore Ltd., Marubeni America Corp., Rio Tinto – Alcan, Trafigura Ag, and North American Rock Salt.
CSX serves the Port of Oswego via its Fulton Subdivision (originally part of the former Northern Division of the New York, Ontario & Western). At North Syracuse, N.Y., the Fulton Subdivision connects with CSX’s St. Lawrence Subdivision, which in turn connects with the Mohawk Division (former New York Central/Penn Central/Conrail) portion of CSX’s Chicago-Toledo-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston main line.
The Port of Oswego last summer was awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The investment will go toward procurement of a radial telescopic ship loader conveyer and the upgrade of railroad tracks at the Port, supporting local producers and businesses by increasing the Port’s capacity to access domestic and international markets.
“With the recent federal award of $4 million for rail upgrades and a new, $2 million, state-of-the-art telescoping conveyor, the port will be able to dramatically raise its grain ship loading speed from 18,000 bushels an hour to at least 30,000 bushels an hour,” Port of Oswego Authority Executive Director and CEO William Scriber told Spectrum News 1.
