JAXPORT Board Approves New Blount Island Entrance, Names Road for Late COO James Bennett

The Jacksonville Port Authority's board of directors has approved construction of a new western entrance and security plaza at Blount Island Marine Terminal, the port's largest container facility, and named the new access road James Bennett Way in honor of JAXPORT's late chief operating officer. The project is designed to ease truck congestion at the terminal's main gate by giving drivers a second route into the 754-acre facility.

The approval, announced by JAXPORT following the board's meeting this week, comes as port officials report that global economic conditions have slowed some cargo shipments compared with last year. Port leaders have said JAXPORT is still moving more cargo than it projected, and the new gate is part of a longer-term push to make Northeast Florida's port more efficient for shippers and trucking companies.

What the board approved

According to JAXPORT, the project includes a 2,073-linear-foot roadway connecting Dave Rawls Boulevard to Blount Island Boulevard, a new security plaza with a canopy, and a 1,318-square-foot security building. Together, the improvements will create a western entrance to the terminal that operates alongside the existing main gate.

The port said the new entrance is intended to improve traffic flow by reducing the volume of trucks and other vehicles that must pass through the main gate. At busy marine terminals, gate congestion is one of the most persistent bottlenecks, because every truck picking up or dropping off a container, and every vehicle carrier moving cars, must clear security and documentation checks before entering.

JAXPORT did not detail a construction timeline in its announcement. Port infrastructure projects of this kind typically move through design, permitting and contracting phases before ground is broken, and the authority usually updates its board and the public as contracts are awarded.

The board's action fits into a broader capital program at Blount Island, where JAXPORT has spent recent years upgrading berths, adding cranes and improving terminal access to handle larger vessels after the federal channel deepening project in the St. Johns River.

Honoring James Bennett

The roadway will be named James Bennett Way after Bennett, who served JAXPORT for eight years, first as senior director of engineering and construction and, beginning in 2022, as chief operating officer. The port said Bennett helped develop the western entrance project before his death.

Upon completion, the security plaza will display a plaque recognizing Bennett's contributions to the port, according to JAXPORT. Port officials described the naming as a way to permanently tie his legacy to one of the projects he championed. Colleagues and industry partners have credited Bennett with helping steer major construction work at a time when the port was racing to keep pace with larger ships and rising expectations from cargo owners. The tribute also signals to current staff that the authority values the engineering and operations work that often happens out of public view, from berth repairs to traffic studies.

In his engineering role and later as chief operating officer, Bennett oversaw much of the physical work that has reshaped JAXPORT's terminals, including berth rehabilitation and infrastructure projects tied to the harbor deepening. Maritime trade publications, including The Maritime Executive and the American Journal of Transportation, carried the port's announcement of the tribute.

Naming infrastructure for staff members is relatively uncommon at large public ports, where roads and buildings are more often named for elected officials or major donors. The board's decision reflects the role Bennett played in the port's recent expansion, according to the authority.

Why gate capacity matters

For truckers, time spent waiting in line at a terminal gate is unpaid time, and long queues can ripple into missed appointments at warehouses and distribution centers across Northeast Florida and South Georgia. Shippers and cargo owners increasingly evaluate ports not just on vessel service but on how quickly cargo moves through the terminal and onto the highway.

Blount Island sits on the north side of the St. Johns River, east of downtown Jacksonville, with access to Interstate 295 and Interstate 95. Truck traffic headed to and from the terminal funnels through a limited number of roads, which makes a second entrance a meaningful change for drivers and for neighboring industrial users on the island.

Blount Island is also home to Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, which shares the island with the commercial terminal. Separating traffic flows and improving security screening at the port side of the island has been a recurring goal in JAXPORT's planning documents.

Port authorities across Florida have invested in similar gate projects in recent years, from automated gate systems to appointment-based truck scheduling. The goal is consistent: move more containers through the same acreage without forcing trucks to idle for long periods. Shorter idle times also carry environmental benefits. Fewer trucks waiting with engines running means less diesel exhaust near the terminal, a concern for port workers and nearby communities. Ports nationwide have pointed to gate improvements as one of the most practical ways to reduce emissions without changing the volume of cargo they handle.

Cargo trends at JAXPORT

The approval comes as JAXPORT tenants report softer demand. According to the Jacksonville Daily Record, port officials said global macroeconomic conditions have slowed cargo shipments year over year, with tenants seeing lower demand for some products. Officials also said the authority is still bringing in more cargo than projected and that clients remain optimistic for the year ahead.

JAXPORT is one of the nation's busiest ports for vehicle imports and exports, and Blount Island is among the largest vehicle-handling centers in the United States. The port also handles containers, breakbulk cargo and bulk commodities, with significant trade to Puerto Rico and growing trade with Asia.

Vehicle volumes are sensitive to automaker production schedules, consumer demand and trade policy, while container volumes reflect retail and manufacturing activity across the Southeast. Tariff changes and shifts in global supply chains over the past two years have created volatility for ports across the East Coast, including Jacksonville.

JAXPORT's leaders laid out the port's longer-term strategy at the authority's 2026 State of the Port event, where they highlighted infrastructure progress and plans to attract more international cargo. Port officials have repeatedly said terminal efficiency and land-side access are as important as channel depth in competing with larger neighbors such as the Port of Savannah.

The bigger infrastructure picture

JAXPORT completed a federal harbor deepening project that took the main shipping channel to 47 feet from the ocean to Blount Island, allowing larger, more fully loaded vessels to call. The deepening, carried out with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was among the largest infrastructure investments in the port's history. The project was completed in phases, and port officials have said it opened the door to larger container ships on routes connecting Jacksonville with Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Since then, the authority has worked through a series of terminal upgrades. JAXPORT completed the final phase of roughly $100 million in berth improvements at Blount Island to strengthen container handling capabilities, and the City of Jacksonville approved money to raise power lines across the St. Johns River so taller ships could reach upriver terminals.

The port has also focused on vehicle-handling capacity, including berth expansions and projects tied to automaker customers. Vehicle processors on Blount Island prepare imported cars for delivery to dealerships across the Southeast, and exported vehicles move through the same terminals.

State funding has supported several of those projects. JAXPORT and Port Tampa Bay have both received Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development grants for terminal and cargo-handling improvements in recent years.

What it means for Northeast Florida

JAXPORT is a major driver of the Northeast Florida economy. The port's own economic impact studies have attributed tens of thousands of jobs in the region to port activity, including longshore workers, truckers, warehouse employees, freight forwarders and customs brokers.

The growth of warehouse and distribution development in Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, along with industrial parks across the Georgia line, has been closely linked to the port. Developers often cite access to JAXPORT and the region's interstate and rail connections when marketing new logistics space.

Smoother gate operations at Blount Island would benefit those businesses directly by shortening the trip from vessel to warehouse. For drivers, a second entrance could also reduce traffic on approach roads during peak hours, when lines at the main gate can back up.

For the broader community, the project is a reminder that port infrastructure is not only about channel depth and cranes. Roads, gates and security facilities determine how quickly cargo moves once it arrives in Jacksonville.

What's next

JAXPORT is expected to move the western entrance project into design and contracting, with updates presented to the board at future meetings. The authority has not yet announced a groundbreaking date or a completion target for James Bennett Way and the new security plaza.

Port officials will continue to track cargo trends heading into the final quarter of 2026 and the authority's next fiscal year. Year-over-year volume comparisons, particularly for vehicles and containers, will be watched closely for signs of whether the slowdown described by tenants persists.

Northeast Florida business leaders and trucking companies will be watching how quickly the new gate can be built, since any reduction in wait times at Blount Island would ripple through the region's logistics network.

The JAXPORT board meets regularly in public session, and agendas and minutes are posted on the authority's website. Residents and businesses interested in the project can follow those meetings for contract awards, cost figures and construction schedules as the western entrance moves from approval to reality. The port has also said it will continue to pursue state and federal grants to help pay for terminal and access improvements across its facilities.