Video: Aberdeen Aldermen Push Forward with $6 Million Port Project

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ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI) — A federal grant could be the next major step in a 15-year effort to bring more jobs to the Aberdeen port.

Aldermen voted this week to apply for the $957,000 to clear land and do related work near the port.

It’s the first phase in a $6 million effort to build a mile-long railroad spur linking the South Aberdeen Industrial park with an expanded 250-acre port.

The port has cranes, barge access, warehousing and storage and truck parking, but no rail access has kept industries away over the years. This project would change that.

“It allows us to have the three-legged stool so to speak,” Aberdeen Vice Mayor John Allen said. “We’ve had the water through the waterway, we’ve had the four-laned road, and now this gives us the capabilities of us transitioning all of our traffic that comes in through either of these over to a rail spur.”

The city hopes to have this phase of the project finished by next year.