DULUTH HARBOR CRUISE SHIP STUDY
Krech Ojard was selected as part of a team to perform a new cruise ship study to determine the feasibility for a new harbor terminal in Duluth, Minnesota. Since the late 1990’s the port of Duluth-Superior has become a destination as part of a small but growing industry of passenger cruises on the Great Lakes.
New security and safety requirements, established by the Department of Homeland Security in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, require specialized processes and facilities for embarking and disembarking international passengers, for foreign vessels and for vessels of greater than 300 GRT.
For the Duluth-Superior port to fully develop as a cruise ship destination and as a regular port of call, a permanent passenger and dock facility is needed to fully comply with these new security rules, protect the ships, their passengers and crews, and screen large numbers of passengers and baggage in a short amount of time.
It is envisioned that cruise options in the future will include not only stopping at the port of Duluth-Superior, but beginning and concluding trips here as well. Passenger interface with and impacts on the local transportation system also needs to be investigated, including potential impacts on road, airline, transit, bicycle, pedestrian and passenger rail connections.
The Metropolitan Interstate Council (MIC) Board, as part of the development of its annual Work Program and Budget, invited MIC member jurisdictions and partners to submit applications for specialized consultant-led transportation studies to utilize the MIC’s Minnesota FHWA/FTA Consolidated Planning Grant (CPG) funds. The Duluth-Superior Cruise Ship Terminal Facility Study was submitted by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and approved for inclusion in the MIC’s CY 2012-2013 Unified Planning Work Program and Budget.
Krech Ojard will be advising and working with a Study Advisory Committee consisting of MIC planning staff and area stakeholders to include the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the Cities of Duluth and Superior, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, Visit Duluth, Greater Downtown Council, Superior Chamber of Commerce, and private industry.
The purpose of the study is to investigate the options and budgetary considerations for the construction of a cruise ship terminal to accommodate new security requirements for passenger cruise ships visiting the Duluth-Superior port.
In support of this goal, Krech Ojard will gather relevant data, including the particular requirements of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard for landside facilities for processing arrivals and departures of domestic and foreign passenger ships; make recommendations about potential terminal locations throughout the Duluth-Superior port area, with associated preliminary engineering and construction cost estimates; and examine multi-modal transportation networks to and from the potential sites to identify connectivity and impacts on the local transportation system for the up to 400 incoming and 400 outgoing passengers associated with each ship arrival.
