With wreckage from the Key Bridge cleared, the original 700-foot wide and 50-foot deep shipping channel is set to open, boosting hopes for an economic revival.
After a colossal cleanup effort, federal and state authorities are set to fully reopen the main shipping channel to the Port of Baltimore this week, transforming a site of ferocious destruction into a symbol of resilience after an errant container ship downed the Key Bridge in March and killed six workers.
Disruptions from the March 26 bridge collapse have cost the Baltimore region’s economy about $1.2 billion, said Anirban Basu, an economist with the Sage Policy Group Inc., a Baltimore-based consulting firm. That takes into account a sharp drop in port activity after the disaster and more moderate losses as smaller channels kept a reduced quantity of goods flowing — as well as all the spending on clearing the channel itself.
In contrast with earlier disasters, such as when former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had to go “begging the federal government for help” after Hurricane Katrina, there was no disconnect after the bridge went down, Scott said.“When you’re talking about political animals, so to speak, folks get very territorial. Folks get very focused on how this could impact,” Scott said. But in this case, no one went out grandstanding for themselves, he said.
The latest available Maryland jobs report, for April, showed a decline of 1,000 jobs in the transportation, warehousing and utilities sector, which is how many jobs at the port are classified. Some of those losses might have been subsequently reversed by the retention program, state officials said. Overall, Maryland added 7,800 jobs that month.
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