DECATUR, Ala. — A new port is headed to the city of Decatur. It's expected to improve traffic flow, removing more than fourteen thousand tractor trailers on the interstate. FOX54 spoke with The Alabama Port Authority Director who breaks down how this process started.
Alabama State Port Authority Director John Driscoll said this project has been in the works for quite some time and instead of putting trucks on the road they felt this port would be a win win for everyone. "It was an exciting announcement for sure. But this has been something that's been in the works for years, literally."
This is how the process will work. "So the business that we're referring to specifically is containers, which is the, you know, the boxes that you see on flat cars. And what they will do is those flat cars will go on the back of these manifest trains in order to transport them up. So it's already existing services that are coming through Alabama. You know, that that that particular CSX Line runs from Mobile, through Montgomery, through Birmingham, through Decatur, and then up in north, it goes all the way up to Chicago."
Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling believes it's all about two things. "It's all about that port being here and being able to get goods in and out, and taking traffic off the interstate."
So what areas will be affected ? "It's really if you take Decatur in the center with a of a compass, it's about a 100 mile radius from that center. So, you know, Huntsville growth and all the things that are happening there, you know, it's really if you take that circle that goes around, there's a lot of different customers and businesses that this could afford another option for them, for their international imports or exports coming out of that area."