California Green Trade Corridor opened

Now shippers can move cargo along the waterways between Ports of Oakland, Stockton and Sacramento

The US MARAD has issued a press release informing that the California Green Trade Corridor is now open. The Corridor will help take freight traffic off California’s congested I-580 by offering shippers an option to move cargo along the waterways between the Ports of Oakland, Stockton and Sacramento.

Aerial view of the port of Oakland (Image credit: Wikipedia)

The project received a $30 million grant from the Department of Transportation, as well as $5 million from local sources. Acting Maritime Administrator Paul Jaenichen and state and local leaders were on hand for the dedication.

Marine Highway M-580, also known as the California Green Trade Corridor, roughly parallels the I-580 corridor between California’s Central Valley and Oakland, one of the most heavily congested highways in the country.

It is anticipated that running two barges per week between Oakland and Stockton will eliminate approximately 200 trucks per day from the highway. When the corridor is fully operational, it is expected that barges will make three round-trips up and down the corridor per week.

“The Green Trade Corridor is a win-win solution for Northern California and the millions of Americans and businesses who rely on it to send and receive goods,” said Jaenichen, Maritime Administrator . “This new efficient and environmentally friendly transportation alternative is also creating jobs in Stockton.”

Marine highways are designated by the Secretary of Transportation and benefit the public by providing additional transportation capacity as part of the surface transportation system.

America’s Marine Highway System consists of more than 29,000 nautical miles of navigable waterways including rivers, bays, channels, the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway System, coastal, and open-ocean routes.