Georgia will receive $65 million for three rail improvement projects as part of a $2.4 billion national grant under the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced Tuesday. from the United States Department of Transportation.

The grants will help fund 122 projects nationwide in 41 states and Washington, DC. According to the department, the project aims to make railways more sufficient and reliable, as well as reduce transportation costs and pollution.

“Through the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, we are funding rail infrastructure projects that create jobs and workforce development, reduce costs for consumers and directly benefit communities across the country” , said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a recent press release.

“Each project advances a future where our supply chains are stronger, passenger rail more accessible, and freight transport safer and more efficient,” he added.

More than $26.5 million in funds will be invested in the Georgia Port Authority’s Colonel’s Island Rail Improvements Project, helping to build a new south-side rail yard at the Island Terminal in Brunswick.

As part of its development, four new yard tracks will be constructed, totaling approximately 23,735 feet, as well as an automobile storage area and a perimeter road. Additionally, the funding is expected to help reconfigure and lengthen the tracks at the neighboring Myd Harris Yard to “improve operational efficiencies and consolidate rail switching activities within the terminal.”

Approximately $30 million in funding will be dedicated to the complete overhaul for greater operational reliability in transportation and security. The project will improve safety and track conditions on eight Patriot railroads located in the Southeast region.

The latest initiative, the Georgia Department of Transportation’s CaterParrott Railnet (CPR) Short Line Modernization Project, includes rehabilitation and upgrades of tracks and bridges as well as construction of a new rail spur at county rail sites of Lowndes and Berrien.