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NEWSLETTER SIGN UPBarrow County officials say a Monday meeting about the West Winder Bypass with the Georgia Department of Transportation was promising.
Engineers estimate the total 5-mile project will cost $90 million to $100 million, said County Engineer Darrell Greeson, and it will alleviate some of the downtown Winder congestion and provide two safe railroad crossings.
Greeson and Commission Chairman Danny Yearwood met with GDOT officials in Atlanta Feb. 1 to discuss federal funding options for construction of the first two phases of the bypass.
The West Winder Bypass has been divided into three projects, with funding for the Ed Hogan Road portion already assured, and a GDOT commitment to partner on the Highway 211-Cedar Creek Road segment being made.
Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds have gone toward the preliminary engineering of the bypass, Greeson said, but without money from the federal government, the bypass likely won’t be possible.
Last week’s meeting in Atlanta focused on obtaining federal funding through the SAFETEA-LU grant.
"Although earmarks are no guarantee, the meeting was promising and GDOT officials were aware of the need and purpose of the project," Greeson said in an e-mail.
He said the first two phases of the project will cost an estimated $17 million for improvements at Ed Hogan Road and Atlanta Highway, as well as improvements at the intersection of Cedar Creek Road and Highway 211. The plan is to straighten Cedar Creek’s approach at Highway 211 with Hal Jackson Road.
Those projects have also been included in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
Greeson said he is attending a Feb. 15 meeting with Barrow County Farm Bureau to share the design plans which will impact Farm Bureau’s property.
It is on the Cedar Creek project that GDOT has agreed to partner with Barrow County.
The bridge portion of the West Winder Bypass project is another piece of the total project puzzle which could be on the fast track.
GDOT likes the design plan which is now in Atlanta and in Washington for review, said Greeson. The bypass project now even has an engineer assigned to it. Douglas Fadool from GDOT Engineering Services will be working with Barrow County on the endeavor. Moreland Altobelli is the county’s consulting engineering firm.
Chairman Yearwood recently requested $4 million in federal funds to begin easement acquisition for the bridge over Atlanta Highway and CSX Railroad’s tracks. The feds have already contacted GDOT to discuss the possibility, said Yearwood, who considers that a positive sign.
Barrow County will be able to resurface nine roads this summer, thanks to 2009 and 2010 Local Assistance Road Program (LARP) money and $1.5 million in road stimulus money. Greeson just learned of the placement of McElhannon Road and Thomas Drive on the 2010 LARP list so he plans to include them on the patching bid being let Feb. 18.
Additional federal stimulus money could find Atlanta Highway and Bill Rutledge Road on the resurfacing list.
