Blue Highway: Using NY rivers to transport goods instead of trucks

NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Deputy Mayor Adolfo Carrion believes, "We need to use our waterways more creatively. We need to use our waterways as a tool for economic development."

That's just what they're doing in the South Bronx, which has been saturated with more than a thousand trucks a month coming and going to the Hunts Point Market.

"At the core here is moving food out of Hunts Point to the rest of the city by water instead of truck," said Andrew Kimball, CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

In a partnership between the city and the private sector, a new so-called Blue Highway facility will be built along the banks of the East River extension, which will serve as a transfer station for goods from the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center and the Fulton Fish Market.

"This new facility is about moving goods in a more effective, efficient and smart way, shifting from freight and trucks to barges and boats. We like water," Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said.

A number of barges will be put in place temporarily until a permanent modular transfer facility can be built.

"We're going to take and create a modular pier system where we'll have various types of water vessels operating on our rivers," said Paul Granito, CEO of Con Agg Global.

The facility will transport wholesale food and beverage via barge and fast boat from Hunts Point to other New York City terminals.

"The goal over time is to move more and more of this food out of Hunts Point, not by truck but by water," Kimball said.

The Blue Highway project will be privately funded, and the first phase is expected to cost between $8-15 million. And they're not wasting time getting the project underway. They expect to have commerce floating down city rivers within six months.