A report released last week by the Army Corps of Engineers offers a clearer picture of how a port expansion at the old Charleston Naval Base would affect the Charleston area and the entire state of South Carolina. The effects appear to be mostly positive, and reaffirm the naval base as a legitimate site for a new steamship terminal.

Plans call for a $545 million terminal at the base. According to the corps' study, the three-berth terminal would accommodate 140 to 154 additional container ships a year. It would generate somewhere around 7,700 additional road vehicle trips per day, the vast majority being trucks. That would lead to a roughly 9 percent increase in truck traffic on the most heavily traveled section of Interstate 26 in the area.

In short, the project would bring more traffic, both positive and negative. Certainly state businesses -- such as BMW and Michelin in the Upstate -- need the additional docking capacity. In fact, the expansion is essential if Charleston's port is to remain competitive with other large ports in the South. The downside is additional traffic on the highways near Charleston, which the study said would "cause increased congestion and delays on area highways and interstates." That is a small price to pay for a thriving port facility that has the potential to drive economic development statewide.

And that's what makes the port expansion worthwhile. The study found the terminal would help reduce unemployment and poverty, and would do so without adversely affecting nearby neighborhoods. In addition, median home values would rise around the port, as would the percentage of homeownership. Those are positives that can't be ignored, especially when they could reach beyond the Charleston area to much of the region and, perhaps, into the Upstate.

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A healthy port is vital to South Carolina's economy. Manufacturers benefit from having a world-class shipping facility to export their products. It also would be easier to lure new businesses to South Carolina if the state keeps its port facilities on a par with those in nearby states. All of that adds up to more jobs and an improved economy for all of South Carolina. That's a solid argument in favor of finally proceeding with the expansion, particularly as the state continues to see dismal unemployment figures and sluggish economic growth.

The idea of a port expansion has been on the State Ports Authority's agenda for years, and it's time the project moved forward.