Major roadwork expected to start in Warner Robins

Work on two major road projects is expected to begin soon in Warner Robins: extending Wall Street as well as repaving about two miles of Russell Parkway and adding handicap accessible features.

Both projects are being paid for with 2006 special purpose local option sales tax money and are expected to be completed by year’s end.

Wall Street, near Russell Parkway and U.S. 129, now begins at South Davis Drive and dead-ends at Huntington Middle School. However, City Engineer Walter Gray said work will begin this week to extend the road by .63 miles to connect with Dixon Street.

“We’re going to be extending Wall Street ... to down past the new veterans training facility that’s being constructed, then we’re going to turn it and parallel to the railroad tracks and tie into Armed Forces Boulevard. So you’ll have a continuous loop all the way around,” Gray said. “That should be cranking up next week.”

The Warner Robins City Council voted for Macon-based Georgia Asphalt Inc. to complete the work for $1.3 million.

Mayor Randy Toms said the road extension will create an alternative exit for students of Georgia’s education center for veterans, which is expected to open next year.

“It’s going to be a really good project,” Toms said of the road extension. “I think it’s also going to enhance the whole Armed Forces Boulevard.”

By mid-September, a stretch of Russell Parkway will be resurfaced between Corder and Moody roads.

“You’ll probably see some signs coming up indicating construction ahead,” Gray said. “That’s a fairly big project.”

Improvements to the sidewalks, the installation of ramps and crossing signals for five intersections are expected to be completed by mid-November, Gray said.

“We’ve got to put in the push buttons and the pedestrian lights,” Gray said. “You’ve seen them all around projects, but if you’ve ever been down Russell, you don’t see any. ... If you try to cross out there right now, especially at Moody and Russell, you better just watch the signals and know when to cross.”

Russell Parkway lacks such infrastructure because it was built before 1992, when the Americans with Disabilities Act’s requirements for new construction and alterations took effect. However, federal law requires that such improvements be completed with any major roadwork.

“Basically, if we make a substantial improvement to a roadway ... then you have to bring any facility that has those substantial changes up to ADA compliance,” Gray said. “So, for all these years, we haven’t done substantial changes and we’ve kind of ridden the grandfather rule, you might call it. But now we’re making these changes and we have to come up to standards.”

The City Council chose Tucker-based Sunbelt Traffic LLC to add the on-street improvements for $221,025 and Macon-based Reeves Construction to repave the road for $553,337 using Georgia Department of Transportation’s local maintenance and improvement grants.

“The way I understand it is this money was left over from the paving projects to start with,” Toms said. “So, it’s making good use of the money that’s already out there.”

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published September 7, 2015 at 9:58 PM with the headline "Major roadwork expected to start in Warner Robins ."