The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has outlined further details of the $4.5bn investment to improve the US state’s ports over the next ten years including the construction of Garden City Terminal West in Savannah, US. 

COO Ed McCarthy described the details of the investment during the 2023 Georgia Transportation Summit while also highlighting the connections being made possible by similar projects by the state’s Department of Transportation. 

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McCarthy said: “By 2026, GDOT’s $127 million Brampton Road Connector will provide direct access for trucks from Interstate 516 to Gate 3 of the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal – expanding capacity while reducing impact on local traffic on communities.” 

The Garden City West project will add 1 million TEUs of annual container yard capacity at the Port of Savannah when it is completed across two phases in 2024. 

Other projects detailed by McCarthy include the $127m Blue Ridge Connector to create an inland rail terminal in Gainsville to connect Northeast Georgia from 2026, and an upgrade to Berth 1 at the Garden City Terminal to allow it to serve 16,000+ TEU vessels and add 1.5m TEUs to its annual capacity. 

Funding was previously announced in October when the GPA said it needed to make strategic moves in response to a manufacturing shift to the southeast of the US and contribute to a competitive port system in the region. 

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The projects also build upon works announced by the GPA in 2022 when it said it would be revamping and realigning docks at the Port of Savannah’s ocean terminal as part of a $1.17bn investment into infrastructure.

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