Site work for a transportation facility in Savannah, Georgia. Completed plans call for site work for a transportation facility.

Under the Chatham Multimodal Community Improvement Project (the Project), the Consultant will conduct planning and Preliminary Engineering (PE) for three sub-projects that would improve freight rail mobility through the Port of Savannah (Port), while reducing the impact of rail movements for the overall transportation network within the project area and region. This project shall be funded in whole or in part by FRA - Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant. Intermodal connectivity in Chatham County has been a key element to the success of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) operations and movement of goods throughout the region. The Port of Savannah has experienced extraordinary growth over the past decade and is on pace to exceed 5.8M twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of volume this year at the Garden City Terminal. A key element to the port's success has been GPA's operating partnerships, such as those with Class I Railroads, that allow the port to operate as efficiently as it does. GPA has plans to grow the terminal capacity to 8-10M TEUs and increase the percentage of cargo handled by rail from 19% to 25%. More cargo handled by rail means fewer trucks on the road. Chatham County, in partnership with CSX Transportation, has identified the CMCIP to improve rail access to the port, minimize the impact of rail operations to the traveling public, improve the safety and quality of life for the residents of Chatham County, enhance the fluidity of handling intermodal cargo to and from the port, and eliminate 11 at -grade rail crossings. The project consists of the following primary components (also referred to as the sub-projects): o I-516 Lead o Gate 1 Road Relocation o Grange Road Grade Separation The I-516 Lead includes a new wye at Louisville Road, a new connection to CSX's Savannah Yard, and the New River Lead which will run between I-516 and Bay Street. This component will decrease the number of vehicle-to-train interactions at SR 21 by moving the existing SR 21 crossing to Bay St, and bypass nine at-grade rail crossings along the Chatham Terminal Lead jointly-owned between CSX and Norfolk Southern, which runs through a residential neighborhood within the City of Savannah. The second component is a road relocation at the Port's Gate 1 that removes an at -grade crossing at Gibbons Road. The third component is a new siding north of Grange Road and construction of a Grade Separation at Grange Road. These improvements would eliminate two additional atgrade crossings, bringing the total removed rail crossings to 11. The Grange Road Grade Separation will allow CSX and Norfolk Southern to operate 14,000' trains and switch into the Mason Mega Rail facility from the north, as opposed to the current 10,000' trains. Chatham County was awarded federal funding for the initial planning and preliminary engineering activities for this project, including an alternatives analysis that could identify more efficient or beneficial methods for achieving the project goals, through the Railroad Crossing Elimination Program (RCEP) grant administered by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The removal of a high number of at-grade crossings, benefiting a historically disadvantaged community will provide significant benefits to all parties involved.