Southern Illinois News

The Cairo River Port project at the confluence of the Mississippi River and Ohio River is for real

“We are far beyond the first steps,” state Sen. Dale Fowler (R- Harrisburg) said in an interview. “We have invested $1.1 million in design, engineering and permitting.”

With an additional $4 million from a $40 million grant from the Rebuild Illinois public works program, the design and engineering work can be finished, the senator said.

“Now, late summer, early fall we’re going to be able to go in and start clearing the site,” Fowler said. “We have 150 acres designated and we’re going to bring equipment and start clearing the site so we can showcase the site.”

The port could be one of the largest economic development projects in Southern Illinois in decades.

“Just container transportation alone is expected to double by 2030,” he said. “As we all know, river port transportation is the most economical form of goods transportation there is.”

An estimated 80% of the nation’s river barge traffic flows through Southern Illinois.

“When we can go straight to the Gulf of Mexico lock free is an opportunity that is going to be exciting, not just for Cairo, not just for Alexander County, but the entire region,” he said.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in early August announced the state’s $40 million investment in the project through the Rebuild Illinois program. Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and Missouri will also benefit from the project and have endorsed it, Fowler said. The port has attracted nationwide attention and will attract private investment.

“Now that we have the funding validated, now that we have line-item appropriations, there is going to be more private investment in this project than there is public,” Fowler said. “That’s what really exciting.”

In addition to the two rivers, the Cairo area also has three interstate highways – I-57, I-55, 1-24 – and a major rail line operated by Canadian National.