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DeKalb to receive an estimated $23 million in roadwork projects
by Nigel Roberts
Some of DeKalb’s sidewalks, traffic signals and roadways will soon get a facelift. On May 5, Gov. Sonny Perdue approved $187 million in federal stimulus spending for 51 roadwork projects that he said “touch nearly every corner of our state.”
Among the 51 projects, Perdue certified eight in DeKalb that will cost an estimated $23 million. These newly approved projects include about $8.3 million for “miscellaneous road improvements” from Memorial Drive to Mountain Drive; two resurfacing and maintenance projects totaling $5.6 million: SR 236 (from I-285 to SR 8) and SR 10 (from Goldsmith Road to West Park Place); $6.7 million for traffic signal upgrades at 53 locations throughout the county; and $2.6 million in sidewalk improvements from Memorial Drive to West Austin Drive.
This is the second wave of certified roadwork projects since the governor announced that Georgia would accept its portion of the $787 billion in federal stimulus funds. In April, Perdue certified 67 projects that total more than $200 million in federal stimulus aid. DeKalb’s lone project in the first wave was a series of roadway “safety” projects, totaling almost $900,000.
The first batch of projects included what Perdue described as “badly needed” repairs to bridges, resurfacing of highways and widening of roadways to ease congestion and improve safety while “spurring” the state’s economy.
Department of Transportation officials said they will evaluate bids, and they expect work to begin by mid-summer on the first group of roadwork projects and by late summer for the second set. According to Perdue’s office, the governor has now certified more than 100 projects, which represent 95 percent of the total projects the state must identify by the June 30 deadline. The governor will include additional projects on the list if they become eligible before the deadline.
Funding from the federal government totals more than $930 million for roadwork projects. The most expensive project on the list released last week is a $48 million project to build part of the Fall Line Freeway. It will be an East-West highway that connects Columbus, Macon and Augusta.
This flood of cash is welcome news for laid off construction workers and contractors, who experienced hard economic times when the DOT began reducing state funding of highway projects. Since one of the requirements for federal funding is that projects must be “shovel ready,” many expect that these projects will quickly create new jobs throughout the state.
While funding from the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide a temporary spark to jump start neglected roadways projects, many lament that the state government has failed to pass a long-term transportation funding solution.
During the 2009 session, plans to address roadway congestion in DeKalb (I-20, I-285, the Ashford Dunwoody collector–distributor system, as well as GA-400 and I-85) under a House plan were put on hold–as were many other projects throughout the state. House leaders wanted a one-cent statewide sales tax to fund the projects.
But Senate leaders offered a different approach. They wanted to allow counties to band together to adopt a regional 1 percent sales tax to pay for projects. Under the regional plan, DeKalb would have been included in a 10-county metro Atlanta region–which has the second worse commuter congested highways in the nation. In the end, neither plan passed.
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