GPA head outlines plans for Port of Brunswick

GPA head outlines plans for Port of Brunswick    Doug J. Marchand, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, on Friday outlined a five-point plan to improve facilities at the Port of Brunswick.
   The goal is to bring additional cargo, ship calls and jobs to the Port of Brunswick, Marchand said, adding that the plan will focus on competitive auto, grain and breakbulk facilities.
   The plan includes:
   * $29.3 million appropriated by federal and state leaders to deepen the Brunswick Harbor channel and open the Colonel's Island Terminal to a new generation of deeper draft ro/ro and bulk vessels by summer 2006.
   * More than $1 million in port authority and federal funds to begin deepening the East River and Mayor's Point Terminal, which will be complete within 30 days.
   * $6.9 million in federal and state funds to construct a highway overpass that will provide unencumbered access to and from the north and south sides of Colonel's Island.
   * $3.6 million in state and local money to build the Colonel's Island Connector Track, a 7,500-foot connection between two class-1 railroads that will reduce travel times from auto manufacturers and grain-producing exporters to Colonel's Island by 70 percent.
   * $4.5 million expansion of the Anguilla Junction Station that will add 13,500 feet of storage and bypass tracks and allow trains to transit through the new interchange more efficiently.