Update: Hall County Commissioners approved funding for road improvements near the Northeast Georgia Inland Port Thursday, April 13.

Original story: Hall County has a couple of road projects in the works it hopes will ease some traffic issues expected as part of the Northeast Georgia Inland Port’s eventual opening off Ga. 365 in northeast Hall.

Design work on improvements to White Sulphur Road and Cagle Road are “substantially complete and both projects are being coordinated with the construction timeline of the inland port,” said Srikanth Yamala, director of Hall County Community Development and Infrastructure.

The inland port, which is expected to be fully operational by late 2024 or early 2025, is planned at Gateway Industrial Centre off White Sulphur Road north of Ga. 365. The 104-acre site is expected to provide a direct shipping corridor to and from Savannah’s harbor by way of a 324-mile freight rail service. 

Plans call for White Sulphur Road to be realigned so that it runs east of Norfolk Southern Railway tracks between Sargent Road and Cagle Road, taking out crossings at Sargent and Cagle roads.

The 3,900-foot project could potentially provide “local industrial access to the inland port,” Yamala said.

Also, “safety enhancements will result by improving the alignment and visibility on White Sulphur Road and allowing industrial freight traffic to bypass a railroad crossing,” he said.

Hall plans to bring Cagle Road up to county road standards between an area behind Americold Logistics and an area close to Ga. 365. The 7,098-foot stretch north of Ga. 365 has paved and unpaved sections.

The improvements are meant to “minimize the inland port impact on residential vehicular traffic” west of the railroad line, Yamala said.

Truck traffic is banned on Cagle Road, a designation that will continue after the inland port is open, he said.

“The improvement and designation will provide approximately 600 residential units two points of paved ingress/egress without conflicting with tractor-trailer trucks servicing the inland port,” Yamala said.

The two projects are expected to cost a combined $10 million, with funding coming from federal, state and county sources, he said.

“The intent is to have (both projects) complete before the opening of the inland port,” Yamala said.

County officials have been in “constant communication” with the Georgia Ports Authority and its design team, Yamala said.

Meanwhile, the Georgia Department of Transportation is conducting a traffic study of Ga. 365 in the area around the inland port.

The study came out of “conversations with Hall County representatives, GDOT management and just the development of the inland port,” Assistant State Transportation Planning Administrator Charles Robinson has said.

“What we’re doing is looking at the existing conditions along the roadway, as well as the future,” Robinson said, adding that potential improvements will be explored. “Nothing is off the table, at this point.”

The study area will run 16 miles from Jesse Jewell Parkway in Gainesville to Belton Bridge Road near Lula.