Word from the White House is they want the Port of Miami dredged, and they want it done now. The Obama administration has put the PortMiami Deep Dredge on a list of five nationally significant seaport improvement projects to be fast-tracked, expediting all federal reviews. Apparently the designation means little practically since the Army Corps of Engineers has already expedited things, and there's no new money in it, but the presidential prioritization is a symbol of the national economic significance of the project. It will be the only US port south of Norfolk, Va to have a 50 foot draft in time for the opening of the new, deeper, Panama Canal. [Miami Herald]
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