'This is a very big moment for the city:' Public transportation coming to Port Wentworth
Public transportation could be accessible for Port Wentworth residents early next year.
Port Wentworth City Council unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the Chatham Area Transit Authority to extend existing route 3B to Port Wentworth in March 2024.
"This is a very big moment for the city," said City Manager Steve Davis on Thursday. "In the traffic congestion that the city has been facing for years, there's very limited that the staff can do at a local level, when you have state highways running through the city, but one of the things we can do is offer good alternatives for our commuters and residents that can pass through here."
The route will service stops up and down Highway 21, from Old Port Wentworth on S. Coastal Highway, the International Trade Parkway, Wood Meadow low-income housing, Rice Hope and I-95/August Road hotels, with 13 stops total.
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The stops are: two on Grange Road at Schneider Logistics; three on Crossgate at Port Wentworth Truck Turnaround, Amazon and Crossgate Logistics; the International Trade Parkway; one on Lakeside Boulevard at Magnola Boulevard and one on Market Boulevard at Publix.
Stops at Coastal Highway at Barnsley Road, the eastbound and westbound stops on Augusta Road at O'Leary; the westbound stop on Augusta Road at Coldbrook Station Circle, and an eastbound stop on Augusta Road at Cook Street are all subject to GDOT review and approval.
The route will be connected to a sister route, route 3, which serves the airport area.
"That will be connected at the Amazon stop, so Port Wentworth residents that go and stop at Amazon, can switch buses and go to the airport without driving their car and having to park at the airport," Davis said. "The proposal is a general fund funded project that is $400,000 funded annually starting next year."
CAT is also developing a micro transit pilot program with Georgia Tech, which would provide a reliable, call-a-ride service for residents. In the future, the micro transit service may be extended to Lake Shore and to the new Port Wentworth Park. The city and CAT will also work together in the future to explore autonomous buses for the new park.
The city will include funding in its annual general fund budget for expansion of services and will for pay for services provided up to the amount budgeted.
There will be two buses that run Monday-Sunday, every hour, from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.
"I think this is going to help with congestion, get some cars off the road, as well as be something we can cross utilize with special events and things of that downtown," Davis said. "There's a lot of different things that we can do in the future as we develop."
Earlier, during the public comment portion, resident Georgia Benton said she liked the idea of there being a transit system, but there was no stop in between the hotels and Publix.
"There needs to be something in the Barren, Saussey, Coldbrook area because of the distance from the hotels to Publix," Benton said. "We need another stop in there."
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Public transportation coming to Port Wentworth in 2024
