Bridge replacement, safety upgrades planned for southwest Georgia roads

TIFTON — A Crisp County bridge will be replaced and safety upgrades will be made to southwest Georgia roads through $19 million in construction contracts recently awarded by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The Crisp County bridge is on U.S. Highway 41/State Route (SR) 7 over Cedar Creek south of Cordele. It was built in 1928 and widened in 1955. It doesn’t meet current design standards, listed in “fair” condition overall with some imperfections. The new bridge will be built adjacent to the existing bridge so traffic will not have to use an off-site detour.

Safety contracts include guardrail upgrades at various location in Cook, Crisp, Dougherty, Lowndes, Thomas, Tift and Turner counties; installation of rumble strips at various locations in Calhoun, Colquitt, Decatur, Early, Grady, Irwin, Randolph, Thomas and Worth counties; sign and pavement marking upgrades at various railroad crossings in Crisp, Lee, Quitman, Randolph, Terrell and Wilcox counties; and Interstate 75 pavement marking upgrades from the Florida state line to the Cook County line.

Another safety contract will upgrade signs and pavement markings on 16 Lanier County roads that are county maintained. This is made possible by Federal Highway Administration funds Georgia DOT receives for safety improvements on roads that are not on the state highway system. The goal is to reduce crashes on county roads. So far this year, 296 fatal crashes have been reported statewide on county roads. That’s more fatalities than have occurred statewide on interstates.

The Lanier County roads are Teeterville, River, Boyette, Burnt Church, Good Hope, Ivey, Royals, Empire, Giddens, Oak Grove, Poplar Springs, Moore, Love Joy, CCC, Darsey and Johnson.

Start dates have not been established for any of these contracts. Go to Award Announcement List to see all contracts awarded Aug. 4 to the lowest qualified bidders.

Special Photo: GDOT