Hannibal Port Authority moving forward with port development, receives more than $800,000 grant with ARPA funds

WEST QUINCY, Mo. — The waterway on the West Quincy side of the Mississippi may soon be a lot busier.

The Hannibal Regional Port Authority has begun minor work on the site located near Memorial Bridge connecting West Quincy to Quincy, and more work is set to begin.

The Missouri Department of Transportation approved funding in April 2022 for the Hannibal Port Authority to buy the land in Taylor, Mo. which will be the only public port from St. Louis to the Quad Cities on the Missouri side of the river to offer truck, barge and rail services.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development has now allocated more than $800,000 to the Hannibal Regional Port Authority project as one of 15 recipients around the state through funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Maria Kuhns, entrepreneurship specialist with the Hannibal Regional Development Council, said the money will be used to prepare the land to attract incoming business.

“We will use the money to develop the site to make it more attractive like other the sites we have like Lakeside,” she said.

The area is a multi-modal port, which means businesses that move in would have various means of transportation for transporting their goods.

“Ultimately this is being marketed to businesses that would find it attractive to be near river infrastructure, rail infrastructure or highway.”

Kuhns said potential businesses might include the manufacturing or agriculture industries. 

“But it’s not limited to that, it’s for anyone who thinks that would be a good fit for them,” she said.

Minor work has already begun on the site using MoDOT funds to improve areas where roads would go throughout the property. 

She said more work will start by the end of this year.

Top priorities will be roads or providing access to other infrastructures like water and electric. 

“Sometimes it is a very big investment to make sure a company coming in to put up a building will have easy access to water, electric, or whatever they need there,” she said.

Kuhns said they considered the nearness of the river and the possibility of flooding at the site, but the area is protected by a 100-year levy. 

“It is also located close to other businesses in West Quincy that have been there for a long time and haven’t been driven away by flooding,” she said. “We spoke with local stakeholders and told them about the 100-year levy so they are aware and we are good to go.”