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Last week, the Georgia Ports Authority’s (GPA) board approved funding for a Port of Brunswick expansion project that will double rail capacity.

The authority plans to spend more than $3 million to build a 7,500-foot connector track at Colonel’s Island Terminal between CSX Transportation’s and Norfolk Southern Railway’s lines to reduce auto manufacturers’ and grain-producing exporters’ transit times to the facility by 70 percent. The port’s exclusive rail carrier, Golden Isles Terminal Railroad Inc., interchanges with the two Class Is.

The authority also plans to spend more than $4 million to add 13,500 feet of storage and bypass tracks at Anguilla Junction Station to improve interchanges between the 33-mile terminal railroad and Class Is. In addition, the authority plans to deepen Brunswick Harbor to accommodate more auto-carrying ships and a larger percentage of the world’s bulk and break-bulk vessels.

“This rail expansion along with the harbor deepening project will provide a tremendous boost in the total volume of bulk commodities and autos at the Colonel’s Island Terminal,” said GPA Chairman Mack Mattingly in a prepared statement.

In February, the Brunswick port handled 37,004 auto and machinery units, a 60.7 percent increase compared with February 2005 and a monthly record.