NEWTON COUNTY – The Newton County Board of Commissioners (BOC) unanimously approved two agenda items related to roads in Newton County during its Nov. 4 meeting.
The approvals included the widening of Henderson Mill Road and an awardance of a bid for maintenance on bridge repairs throughout the county.
Widening of Henderson Mill Road
The BOC voted 5-0 to initiate a widening project of Henderson Mill Road.
Newton County Transportation Director Chester Clegg told the board that the road’s widening is needed due to the number of accidents that have occurred over the years.
“Over the last 12 years, there have been approximately 157 crashes on Henderson Mill, and two of those were fatalities and 107 were single-vehicle crashes,” Clegg said.
Clegg added that the lanes are around 10 feet wide and 20 feet total. He noted that a standard road lane should be 11-12 feet wide.
The project will cost $565,653.50 and will be completed by Pittman Construction Company. All funds stem from SPLOST dollars.
Before the vote, District 5 Commissioner LeAnne Long asked if there would be enough shoulder on the road.
“That road has become extremely busy over the years, so I think that’s part of the problem there, is making sure we’ve got enough shoulder on these things,” Long said.
Clegg said that the shoulder would not be widened, but that dirt would be added to the grass shoulder.
District 1 Commissioner Stan Edwards also noted the dropoff from the road surface is significant, calling the widening project “money well spent.”
Bridge repairs
Commissioners also unanimously awarded a contract to Massana Construction Inc. for phase two of the 2025 maintenance and repair project.
The cost for the project is set at $1,331,380 and will cover eight bridges across the county. Clegg said that 75% of the funding will come from the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant for the Georgia Department of Transportation, and the other 25% will come from SPLOST.
The county will be doing the maintenance and repair project in three phases. Clegg noted that phase one was advertised, but only received one bid. A new bidding process for phase one will begin at a later time.
