PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — After more than two-years of construction, the Port of Virginia’s expanded central railyard is fully operational.

A ceremony was held Tuesday to mark the official opening at Norfolk International Terminals.

This $83 million expansion will significantly increase the port’s rail capabilities, allowing it to process 2-million twenty-foot equivalent units annually.

Additionally, the expansion will enhance the port’s rail reach to important Midwestern population and manufacturing centers.

Over the last two years, at least eight new tracks have been laid, and now are available to load and unload rail cars full of shipping containers.

“What this enables is for that freight to go straight through the port onto the railroad, and that, of course, is helpful,” said Stephen Edwards, CEO of the Virginia Port Authority. “It keeps freight moving by rail, but not so much on the road.”

The railyard is going to expand the number of trains coming in and out of the Port of Virginia in Norfolk, but many want to know what that means for trains that are already delaying travel when they are blocking railroad crossings.

“I will admit coming to the port today, I got to see those rail crossings first-hand,” said Polly Trottenberg, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. “The good news is the federal government also has the dollars that can be invested to help address those rail crossings, and one thing I’d ay about the Commonwealth of Virginia, they’ve been great partners in working on projects with us.”

It was back in 2015 that a project eliminated one of two railroad crossings on Hampton Boulevard.

Edwards said the new railyard will help in the management of trains.

“It does allow for some future design options which may allow us to mitigate some of those railroad crossings,” Edwards said. “That’s future work we are going to work on with federal partners, with the Commonwealth and the city.”