Three road improvement projects moved one incremental step forward Tuesday night when the Newton County Board of Commissioners approved three new work orders.
A project for the redesign of improvements to the intersection of Ga. Highway 81 and Crowell Road was approved for $165,260 to transportation consultant LPA Group with funds coming from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Redesign work is expected to be complete by July.
Improvement plans include a new traffic signal and the addition of left turn lanes on all approaches with the addition of right turn lanes as necessary.
The intersection improvements were originally designed by the Georgia Department of Transportation however the design was halted earlier in the year due to the withdrawal of funding by GDOT for both construction and the completion of design work.
Design work already completed was based on survey data and right of way/utility estimates that are several years old.
Former GDOT Commissioner Harold Linnenkohl, who is now the vice president of the LPA Group, will be the principal-in-charge of redesign work at the intersection. He will also assist the county in applying for new funding for construction of the project from state and federal sources.
A $67,840 task order for construction management and inspection assistance for a project to reconstruct and signalize the intersection of Ga. Highway 20/212 and Brown Bridge Road was also approved by the board.
Transportation consultant PBS&J will be providing construction management services for the county on the project, which, though jointly funded with the state, the county is paying more than 50 percent of the costs of.
GDOT has awarded the construction contract on the project to Pittman Construction. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-January and is anticipated to take until late summer or early fall to complete.
PBS&J will assist in the daily construction inspection of the work and verification of construction material quantities to assist in billing approval to ensure that only needed quantities are purchased.
Funding for PBS&J’s services and for construction work comes from SPLOST.
A third task order was approved by the BOC for the completion of final design work of road improvements to Gaither’s Road in the amount of $148,700 to transportation consultant Hatch Mott MacDonald.
The project’s limits begin just south of the intersection with Spears Road and extend along Gaither’s Road approximately 2.5 miles north and include intersections with Spears Road, Bear Creek Trail, Spears Trail and driveways, drainage structures, stream channels and utilities.
Survey work, concept design, right-of-way staking and utility relocation coordination has already been completed for the project.
The BOC also gave approval to proceed with the relocation of 25 power poles along the route of improvements on Gaither’s Road by Snapping Shoals EMC and Central Georgia EMC for $71,124.
Funding for design improvements and the relocation of the poles comes from SPLOST.
