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Published Friday, October 03, 2008 in Local

DOT money crunch may delay new bridge

By Brenda Pedraza-Vidamour

The Times-Herald

Motorists traveling on Greentop Road in north Coweta County may have to grimace and retain a white-knuckle hold on their steering wheels a few more years as they drive across the bridge over the CSX railroad.

While the bridge -- the site of 11 sideswipe collisions over the past 10 years -- is scheduled for replacement because of its poor structural condition, narrow lanes and poor sight distance conditions, the Georgia Department of Transportation's funding shortfalls and the agency's new project prioritization program will likely delay the project and others for several years, according to state DOT and Coweta County transportation officials.

"With project prioritization, we don't know when any of this will fall in," said Kimberly Larson, Georgia DOT regional communication officer.

Bill Rountree, Georgia DOT project manager, added while it's unclear when construction could start because of funding uncertainties, right-of-way acquisitions for the project can begin about early 2009.

"Funding is uncertain right now," he said. "The construction program is not tied to a funding date."

Once funding is secured, a new bridge can be built in about 12 months, he said.

The DOT held an open house on Greentop's bridge replacement and detour and a Cannon Road bridge replacement project Thursday night at the Coweta County Fairgrounds south of Newnan.

Greentop's proposal calls for removing the 90-foot steel truss bridge over the rail line and replacing it with a 193-foot-long concrete bridge.

The proposal for Cannon Road in south Coweta would remove the 180-foot steel and timber bridge over White Oak Creek and replace it with a new 264-foot-long concrete bridge. Since this project goes over a creek and wetlands, it would also involve some wetland mitigation, per Larson.

Both proposals are to make the bridges safer and bring them up to current bridge width standards. Both of the bridges have narrow 10-foot lanes that will be replaced with 12-foot lanes and 4-foot shoulders.

In addition to being lengthened about 100 feet, the Greentop bridge will also be raised about 5 to 6 feet to improve the road conditions.

Currently, both bridges restrict truck traffic because of their conditions and structural deficiencies.

"It's safe, but it just doesn't meet current standards," Larson explained.

Greentop handles a 5,400 annual average daily traffic volume and is located in a more heavily trafficked area than Cannon Road, which handles about a 400-450 cars per day.

Larson explained schools, churches and businesses surrounding Greentop, such as The Heritage School on U.S. 29 and the Kmart Distribution Center on Herring Road in Shenandoah Industrial Park, will be notified of the detour route long before construction starts. The detour will direct motorists off Greentop toward Herring and U.S. 29.

Part of the detour will also likely involve a corresponding intersection project by the county.

Coweta plans to shift the intersection at U.S. 29, Hal Jones Road and Greentop Road farther north, past its current location at the Exxon gas station. Construction on the new intersection could begin as early as 2010, according to Wayne Kennedy, Coweta County director of development and engineering.

The county's plans call for a new section of Greentop Road to be built north of the Exxon and the county's fire station. The existing intersection at Greentop and U.S. 29 will be closed.

Turn lanes will be built on Hal Jones and on U.S. 29, with a traffic light eventually to follow at the new three-way intersection, Kennedy said.

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