Westport Modernization Project

Project Overview

In 2018 Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced an investment of $17.7 million in the Port of Hamilton from the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF). The federal investment was matched by the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority in support of the port’s $35.45 million Westport Modernization Project.

This project will see port lands used more efficiently, and be reconfigured to create new employment land development parcels. New transportation infrastructure will improve efficiency and fluidity for port users. Perimeter areas will add landscaping to improve the port-city interface.

HPA’s plan for Westport is to create a multi-modal transportation hub. Currently, not all areas of the Westport zone are accessible by rail from other areas of the port. The improvements will also help address the challenge that the port has been facing in recent years of not having enough development-ready parcels of land to meet the demand from potential port users. HPA expects to leverage today’s investments into $80-90 million in new business attraction.

About Westport

Westport is a 115-hectare area located at the west end of the Port of Hamilton. Among the oldest industrial employment areas in the City of Hamilton, the Port’s landholdings spanning Piers 10-15 were assembled piece-by-piece over many decades. The result is a collection of uses that are not space optimized, with insufficient modal connections (gaps in rail network/no road or rail service at some piers), with infrastructure that in some cases exceeds 100 years old.

About the Modernization Plan

With the support of the NTCF, HPA will transform Westport, with modern transportation infrastructure and optimized land configurations. This plan includes four major elements:

  1. Marine infrastructure: New dockwall at Pier 12, one of the Port’s busiest piers.
  2. Rail infrastructure: Upgrades to the existing Westport rail network to provide more cargo handling capacity, and rail service to more individual development parcels. Better rail connectivity will offer all of the tenants at Westport direct access to more than one Class-1 rail provider.
  3. Roadways & utilities: Improved internal roadways and enhancements to a new container positioning depot will facilitate the internal movement of truck traffic on-port. Utilities and servicing will make Westport a fully networked industrial zone, and development-ready.
  4. Storage capacity: Grading and paving of cargo laydown areas. New warehouse building for multi-user storage.

The primary project investments begin in 2018.

This plan includes $35.45 million in transportation and port infrastructure. Funding sources: 50% HPA; 50% NTCF.

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