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Thursday, Sep. 17, 2009

$72 million headed to midstate for road work

More than $72 million in federal stimulus money will help repave roads across Middle Georgia, including major work across Macon and along Interstate 16 that could begin in a few months.

The projects include repaving on Macon’s Riverside Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, as well as a $40.2 million complete rebuilding of Bleckley County’s short stretch of I-16 that restarts the highway from the ground up.

The projects were authorized by Gov. Sonny Perdue, part of about $331 million in transportation projects statewide.

Macon drivers could be challenged by $5.3 million worth of repaving along a stretch of Riverside Drive to Emery Highway and Ocmulgee East Boulevard through the rest of east Bibb County. Another project will repave much of Broadway and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard downtown as well as all of Houston Avenue to the split with U.S. 41/U.S. 247. That project is expected to cost about $5.7 million.

Georgia Department of Transportation records say both roads are deteriorating, and neither one has been repaired in at least a decade.

It wasn’t clear Wednesday what effect the projects would have on traffic. Andrew Blascovich, a spokesman for the mayor’s office, said the city was glad to get news of the roadwork Wednesday.

“I’m glad we have these two projects to be funded through stimulus money. I look forward to seeing them completed,” he said.

Kimberly Larson, a DOT spokeswoman in Thomaston, said the Macon projects would be put out to bid in November, with construction probably beginning early next year. The Riverside Drive project covers about 14.5 miles, while the other project would repave about 5.3 miles, she said.

A much smaller project would repave U.S. 41/U.S. 247 from near Liberty Church Road through the beginnings of Pio Nono Avenue. That project will cost about $468,000.

Middle Georgia’s most expensive new highway project is also one of its shortest. The Bleckley County stretch of I-16 measures just 1.9 miles, but it will cost about $40.2 million. Bids will be sought next month, said Cissy Mc Nure, a DOT spokesman in Tennille.

Traffic will be limited to a single lane in either direction through a 3-mile stretch, Mc Nure said. She estimated that construction could take about a year and a half. All lanes would be reopened for a hurricane evacuation.

The I-16 work is so costly because the concrete slabs that make up the road have to be replaced. They typically last several decades, Mc Nure said.

Other Middle Georgia projects include:

Ÿ In Jones County, $4.1 million to repave 14.5 miles of U.S. 129, from downtown Gray to the Putnam County line.

Ÿ In Baldwin County, $750,000 for a downtown beautification project in Milledgeville.

Ÿ In Peach County, $742,000 to repave a 3-mile stretch of the Ga. 247 Connector, also called Centerville Road, from Ga. 49 to Interstate 75.

Ÿ In Dooly County, $2.6 million to repave Ga. 27 from Ga. 7/U.S. 41 to Sumter County.

Ÿ In Lamar County, $4.5 million to repave Ga. 36 from Upson County to near U.S. 341/Ga. 7. Also, $3.6 million to repave Ga. 7 from the Crawford County line to beyond Redbud Road.

Ÿ In Taylor County, $1.5 million to repave Ga. 22/U.S. 80 from Ga. 3/U.S. 19 to the Talbot County line.

Ÿ In Washington County, $625,000 for a downtown streetscape extension and sidewalks in Kaolin Park.

To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-4251.