An expanded and upgraded ferry terminal opened Tuesday at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, with officials saying the $51.1 million project expands ferry capacity and strengthens emergency access to the waterfront.

The Liberty State Park Ferry Terminal serves millions of visitors traveling to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island each year. The project returned four ferry slips to service and upgraded another existing slip, according to the New Jersey departments of Transportation and Environmental Protection.

Officials said the upgraded facility also improves accessibility and can accommodate multiple rescue and transport vessels during an emergency.

“They can become that evacuation point, a staging area, a lifeline, a place where vessels, rescue crews and emergency personnel can convene to come together,” U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Doreen McCarthy said of the ferry slips at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The project transformed portions of the historic ferry terminal, replacing a sunken barge with new marine infrastructure and restoring one of the terminal’s wooden transfer bridges. The new 200-foot-by-50-foot barge is designed to serve as an emergency evacuation facility.

The project received about $41 million in federal funding, representing roughly 80% of its cost, with additional state funding.