Photo courtesy of Georgia Ports

The Georgia Ports Authority will construct the overpass and roadway entrance to U.S. 17 according to GDOT specs and be completed in 2026.

Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) announced plans Feb. 2 to invest $29 million in an overpass linking the Port of Savannah's Ocean Terminal to U.S. Highway 17 in order to keep terminal truck traffic from impacting local neighborhoods.

In addition, officials expect the highway structure will increase the port's efficiency in handling growing cargo volumes.

The project is the result of a joint collaboration involving GPA, the city of Savannah and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). The initiative, led by GPA, started with talking to residents in the communities near Ocean Terminal and hearing their concerns about the impact of increased truck traffic on neighborhood streets.

The proposed overpass will enable trucks to directly access U.S. 17 rather than using Louisville Road and other local streets to enter the highway.

GPA will build the overpass and roadway entrance to U.S. 17, according to GDOT specs, for completion in 2026. Once it is finished, the roadway will then be turned over to the state transportation agency for future maintenance and repair.

"This is a port project in the best interest of the community," said Griff Lynch, president and CEO of GPA. "We want to keep trucks off local neighborhood roads for safety and sustainability reasons."

He and other Georgia Ports executives have been in contact with residents in the Brickyard area of Savannah near the port to hear their concerns firsthand.

In addition to the overpass and entrance ramp construction to U.S. 17, GPA also will build a dedicated exit ramp from the highway as well as a new truck-only entrance road into Ocean Terminal designed for enhanced safety and traffic operations for the traveling public.

Port of Savannah Experiencing Substantial Growth Spurt

The Port of Savannah's 200-acre Ocean Terminal is one of the busiest container ports on the East Coast. Ocean Terminal and the port's Garden City Terminal handle about 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo annually.

In December, Georgia Ports announced details of a $4.5 billion expansion plan that includes the Garden City Terminal West, Blue Ridge Connector and improvements to Berth 1 at the Garden City Terminal.

With these expansions and renovations, GPA expects container capacity at the Port of Savannah to grow by approximately 3.5 million TEUs per year, with annual capacity reaching 10 million TEUs by 2026.

The agency also anticipates investing $4.2 billion in the next 10 years as part of its comprehensive plan to expand cargo handling capabilities at its ports to support future supply chain requirements.

The Peach State's ports and inland terminals support more than 561,000 jobs annually, contributing $33 billion in income, $140 billion in revenue, and $3.8 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia's economy.

As part of GPA's community engagement efforts, the agency has instituted plans to donate $6 million to communities located near the Port of Savannah to support a multi-year, local workforce housing initiative.

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