The Oakland Harbor Turning Basins Widening Project has achieved a key milestone after the Port of Oakland and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) signed a Design Agreement that allows the $642 million project to transition from the study phase into Preconstruction Engineering and Design (PED).
The project will widen both the Outer Harbor and Inner Harbor Turning Basins—akin to cul-de-sacs, but for ships—to allow larger, modern container vessels to turn around safely. That, in turn, will enable the Port to reduce operational inefficiencies and maintain economic competitiveness with other West Coast seaports. The expansion of the Inner Harbor Turning Basin, located in the Oakland Estuary just east of the Main Street Ferry Terminal, will require the excavation and dredging of a portion of land currently occupied by the Continental Terminals Annex, at the foot of Mitchell Avenue in Alameda.
Planning for the project began in 2020. The Board of Port Commissioners certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (Final EIR) and approved the project in July 2025.
At a ceremony aboard the USS Potomac in Oakland on August 27, federal, state, and local leaders—including Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft—highlighted the regional importance of the project…