The Georgia Department of Transportation announced Wednesday a project to improve safety at a busy Bulloch County crossroads.
GDOT crews will work two days next week — Wednesday and Thursday — to implement and update traffic controls at the intersection of Burkhalter Road and U.S. Highway 80, also known as Georgia Highway 26.
Work will be active from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. both days, and motorists on Burkhalter Road should expect minimal delays at the site, according to Jill Nagel, the District 5/Southeast Georgia communications officer for GDOT.
“We will be upgrading, enhancing, what we have there now,” Nagel said. “We are always trying to improve on our highways to make them safer for motorists. Highway 80 is very busy. This is something we looked at, and we agreed to enhance safety at that location.
“There will be no lane closures, as of right now,” she continued. But crews “will be working very close to the roadway. We do want motorists to be aware of employees and be careful to slow down in the area.”
Work at the intersection, where drivers on Burkhalter come to a stop before continuing and Highway 80 travelers pass under a caution light, will entail adding traffic devices that alert drivers of the upcoming crossing.
“The work will improve the existing traffic measures we have there now, making the situation better for drivers coming to a stop on Burkhalter,” Nagel said. “We are enhancing what we have there by making everything more visible and letting drivers know, as they’re approaching, that there will be a stop at Highway 80. We will install 48-inch stop signs and, farther down the road, warning signs for an upcoming stop. We will put in rumble strips and also do some striping to make the intersection a lot more visible.”
The intersection at Highway 80 and Burkhalter Road is one of the busiest in Bulloch County, bringing together traffic that flows between Statesboro and Brooklet (Highway 80) and runs to or from residential areas along Burkhalter Road.
According to GDOT statistics, the intersection’s average daily traffic count last year was 8,240.
Jeff Harrison may be reached at (912) 489-9454.