Commissioner catches Log Cabin sidewalk headed in wrong direction

A Macon-Bibb County commissioner caught a problem with the sidewalk along the Log Cabin Drive road project in Macon.

Commissioner Al Tillman said that while recently driving along the stretch, he noticed a section of a sidewalk being placed in the wrong location. Work on the long-anticipated project began earlier this year and includes building a pedestrian bridge and sidewalks, repairing the Rocky Creek bridge and adding a turn lane at the intersection of Log Cabin and Hollingsworth Road.

“I noticed that the sidewalks are going too far up and asked ‘where’s the turning lane supposed to go?’” Tillman said.

Tillman said he contacted the county’s engineering department, which verified to him that a mistake had been made.

County officials said Tuesday that tearing up a section of the sidewalk should not cause any major delays with the project. Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore said someone with the engineering department would have caught the mistake soon while doing a periodic checkup on the project.

The city-county will not have to cover costs for removing that section of the sidewalk. The project’s $1.6 million price tag is being paid for with special purpose local option sales tax money.

“According to (County Engineer David Fortson), it’s very minor,” Floore said. “There’s a section of the road between Hollingsworth (Road) and the bridge. Part of it needs to be torn up to make room for the turning lane.”

Ronnie Dykes, with contractor R.J. Haynie & Associates, said he was meeting with Macon-Bibb officials Tuesday about the project. If there is an issue with the placement of the sidewalk, then it shouldn’t take much to resolve it, he said.

“We subcontracted it out,” Dykes said. “If the guys messed up, we’ll straighten it out. It’s not a big deal.”

This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Commissioner catches Log Cabin sidewalk headed in wrong direction."