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On Monday, Albany, N.Y., Mayor Gerald Jennings and other government officials provided a progress report on federal stimulus and state funding for Port of Albany improvements, including rail line extensions, wharf replacements and heavy lift capacity expansions.

A combination of New York State Department of Transportation, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Albany Port District Commission dollars will finance a two-phased wharf reconstruction project. Under way and slated for completion in January 2011, phase one includes the demolition and reconstruction of a wharf built in 1927; phase two calls for extending the wharf and adjacent rail lines.

After phase two is completed in October 2011, an on-dock rail line at the port will be connected to CSX Transportation and Canadian Pacific mainlines to streamline cargo unloading. Currently, freight is railed to a point just outside the port, then transferred to trucks that move the cargo to the port’s existing rail line.

A line directly linked with CSXT and CP will help the port market its services to new prospective customers, Albany officials said in a prepared statement. In addition, the project will enable the port to load and unload four heavy lift ships at one time.