A group of U.S. Representatives recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg expressing concerns over a grant proposal concerning the Port of Oakland.
The City of Oakland submitted a grant application to the department for the Oakland Waterfront Mobility Hub Project. The project would redevelop the Howard Terminal at the Port of Oakland into a site for the new Oakland Athletics stadium.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated the terminal a “pop-up” yard dedicated to clearing bottlenecks for American agricultural exports to Asian markets.
The lawmakers highlighted logistical issues resulting from taking a portion of the port and creating a commercial site bordering a working port. They requested Buttigieg answer questions on the project’s impact on port operations, safety, and shipping capacity.
The government must “consider the specific safety risks and logistics of a stadium in this immediate area, with large crowds navigating their way through a working port filled with moving trucks and container vessels,” U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) said. “A new stadium for the A’s would be a fine thing, but its placement is important. There are too many unknowns that need to be addressed before Federal money can be green lit for this project.”