Friday March 29th, 2024 5:01AM

Georgia Ports Authority says Hall County Inland Port will benefit the country

By Joy Holmes Multimedia Journalist

Business leaders of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce received an update from the Georgia Ports Authority saying the new inland port project is making way and will affect more than Georgia.

Serving as a hub for both import and exports, the Gainesville terminal will provide access to the direct rail route from the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal.

GPA’s chief administrative officer, James McCurry, said the port will not only better serve Georgia, but will be efficient for the United States in its entirety.

“We call this the ‘Mega Rail Project,’” McCurry said. “It’s taking the CSX and Norfolk Southern railyards that are separated today and combining them,” he said.

According to McCurry, the combination of the railyards gives way for more expansion on the railways, and GPA the access to handle over a million container lifts with additional cranes and overhead capacity.

McCurry said the new rail system will better feed the United States, especially the Midwest and Ohio Valley, allowing for quicker travel times out of Savannah, opposed to cargo coming to and from Asia travelling farther distances from the west coast.

“If you’ve seen LA or Long Beach, and you’ve seen the congestion around the rails or the trucks, avoiding that kind of atmosphere is every shippers’ dream,” McCurry said.

The new rail system will save at least 710 miles by truck for each container shipped on the railway, McCurry said.

The permitting work and design are well underway. People can expect to see construction progress near the end of the year. According to McCurry, the construction will take around 18 to 24 months to complete, at start-up he expects nearly a dozen jobs to be filled.

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