PORT ARTHUR, Texas — A project approved by Jefferson County voters could create thousands of jobs, and officials said it will be a "huge deal" for the economy.
The Navigation District is going full steam ahead with a project aimed at deepening the Sabine-Neches waterway. The project aims at helping to get products to and from Southeast Texas ports and plants.
The Sabine Neches Waterway is the third largest waterway in the nation. The proposition to improve the waterway passed Saturday with 77% of voters saying yes, and now, the project will kick into high gear.
Officials said the project can be compared to adding a lane on an interstate.
“The project can certainly proceed unimpeded," Larry Kelly, CEO of the port of Port Arthur, said. "Delays of any nature are always costly, but this project, I can't overstate the importance of it."
Ships move more than 164 million tons of cargo on the waterway every year. This fuels about $40 billion in gross product for the United States.
Those numbers are only expected to increase once the ship channel is deepened from 40 to 48 feet. It will be the first major upgrade in 60 years.
"They have available capacity on the ships,” Matt Kaufman, deputy director with the Sabine-Neches Navigation District, said. “They just can't put the product on them right now because it sinks them too low in the water, so there being partially loaded. That's where you have a lack of efficiency and that's what this project will do, make those shipments much more efficient."
Kauffman said homeowners do not have to worry about their taxes going up.
"We currently collect around 9 cents on property taxes, and 6 cents of that has been committed since around 2014 to this project,” Kauffman said. “It allows us to use these current tax revenues to go out and get a loan."
The project will cost close to $1.4 billion. According to an economic impact report, the improvement could create close to 14,000 new jobs thanks to new facilities in Jefferson County.
Kelley said the impact will be monumental.
"I can speak for Port Arthur that you could certainly continue to see significant increases in the number of man hours worked," Kelly said "The number of jobs created in Port Arthur, as well as the local economic development."
The Navigation District hopes to have the project completed in the next four to six years.