The Port of Galveston is soon adding a third cruise terminal and more ships and is investing in traffic management tools to ensure guest satisfaction, according to a press release.

Since the completion of the public-private partnership with Royal Caribbean Group, the port has been planning and improving its facilities, in order to handle the increased traffic that growth will bring, according to Rodger Rees, port director and chief executive officer, Galveston Wharves.

“A growing cruise business also generates more revenue for our self-sustaining port. As a city-owned entity with no taxing authority, we reinvest our revenues to maintain aging port infrastructure and to build new infrastructure to expand our cruise and cargo businesses,” commented Rees.

With over 7 million visitors per year, the Port of Galveston is preparing for growth with a series of upgrades such as an expanded interior roadway to divert some port-related traffic away from Harborside Drive, real-time traffic conditions and routing updates via navigation apps, more wayfinding signboards for cruise passengers, advance traffic notifications to Port of Galveston parking reservation holders, and automated port cruise parking entry and exit with license plate recognition.

Based on current and future traffic demands, the port is also restoring and extending its Old Port Industrial and Wharf roads. The multi-year project, worth $20 million and funded by port revenues and grants, will be completed in three phases to serve the West Port Cargo Complex, cruise operations in the central port, and commercial, cargo, and Cruise Terminal 10 operations in the east port.

Moreover, the Port of Galveston is looking into the possibility of a direct connector from the port to Interstate 45, so that traffic could then be delivered directly to the port, following the principles of the Galveston ring barrier.