After more than a year of research, site analysis, stakeholder interviews and open houses for community feedback, the city of Port Wentworth unanimously approved a plan for the future of downtown and Highway 21. This plan includes a potential strategy for alleviating truck congestion along the South Coastal Highway through downtown Port Wentworth.
According to residents, downtown Port Wentworth has long been overlooked. Three decades ago, the area was bustling with a grocery store, post office and pharmacy. Now, there are blighted homes, shuttered businesses and warehouses upon warehouses, the result of rapid growth of the Georgia Ports Authority and the annexation of North Port Wentworth in the late 1980s. This plan, alongside a Habitat for Humanity development, seeks to breathe life back into the center of the city as it prepares for more growth, at a projected rate of 8% annually.
Rerouting truck traffic is key to revitalizing downtown Port Wentworth area
Residents complained of the volume of truck traffic passing through downtown via State Route 25, diminishing the area’s walkability and creating a less than hospitable environment for pedestrians. The downtown vision plan, assembled by planning and design consultant Kimley-Horn , suggests working with the Georgia Department of Transportation to reassign the state route designation from the section of SR 25 that passes through the area.