Gov. Nathan Deal is lending is his support to building a new $140 million highway that would give trucks expanded access to the Port of Savannah.

Deal said in a statement Monday the project is a crucial investment not just for Savannah's booming seaport, but for Georgia's overall economy.

The proposal calls for building a four-lane highway covering 3.1 miles starting east of Interstate 95 and ending near the port's main gate. It would be used primarily by tractor-trailers hauling cargo to and from the Savannah port, the nation's fourth largest container port.

Georgia lawmakers have authorized selling up to $100 million in general obligation bonds to fund the project. The state Department of Transportation says construction could start by 2013.

Featured

Former Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman talks to her daughter, Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, after she testified before the U.S. House Select Committee at its fourth hearing on its Jan. 6 investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

Credit: TNS