By Steve Klamkin WPRO News

A long awaited rehabilitation project kicks off at the Port of Galilee, where the commercial fishing piers are in for a $5.2 million overhaul for the first time in decades.

State and federal officials were on hand Friday to celebrate the work, planned to begin on the North Bulkhead, just north of the Block Island Ferry dock in the Galilee section of Narragansett.

The three-phase project is to begin with replacement of the sheeting that makes up the bulkhead and additional rehabilitation or replacement of docks, said Megan DiPrete, Chief of Planning and Development for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

DiPrete said upgrading electrical service is another, challenging aspect of the project.

“You want to keep important infrastructure protected from the weather,” she said.

Funding for the first phase of the project includes $3.5 million from the Rhode Island Capital Plan, and $1.7 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

DiPrete added that further improvements, including second and third phases of the port rehabilitation are planned, depending on availability of funding.

According to the DEM, about 200 commercial fishermen landed 48 million pounds of seafood worth $66 million at Galilee in 2019.