Ports strike exposes Illinois district's subpar infrastructure, director says

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The man in charge of the Port of Chicago says the strike by dockworkers along the east and Gulf coasts shows why significant upgrades are needed here.

The coastal ports handle massive container ships.

Erik Varela is executive director of the Illinois International Port District.

He says the Port of Chicago lacks the facilities it needs to process large numbers of containers, but he wants that to change.

“Right now, the Port of Chicago does not have the infrastructure to handle the containers. You also have to make significant investments, and that requires sophisticated security, sophisticated x-ray and scanning devices so they scan those containers along with many other things. This is infrastructure we just don’t have yet,” Varela argues.

Varela says with enough investment the Port of Chicago could do more to help ease supply chain issues when coastal ports are shut down because of strikes, weather or other problems.

“We have the land, right, we have the space to do it, but right now, our dock wall cannot sustain that kind of activity,” Varela says.

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