Plans to install a traffic light at one of the area’s most dangerous intersections will be finalized Tuesday when Bulloch County commissioners approve a bid for the job.

Ellis Wood Contracting placed the lowest bid and will install a basic traffic light, as well as create turn lanes, at the intersection of Cypress Lake Road and Veteran’s Memorial Parkway, said Bulloch County Engineer Brad Deal. Wood bid $548,938.75 for the project, he said.

During the regular meeting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., commissioners are set to vote on approval of the bid. 

The project will include turn lanes on Cypress Lake Road on both sides of the Bypass, Deal said. The light and roadwork will be funded by a Department of Transportation Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG) and the county’s Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST), he said.

There have been numerous traffic accidents, many fatal, at the intersection. According to information provided by Georgia State Patrol Post 45, troopers responded to approximately 42 crashes within a half mile radius of the intersection between Jan. 1, 2018 and Aug. 27 of 2020. 

Bulloch County Commission Chairman Roy Thompson said the project is the result of “a lot of negotiation.”

Deal said the work is expected to begin in October and be completed by April.

“It’s quite exciting,” Thompson said, adding that the bid is expected to receive unanimous approval. “The entire Board of Commissioners is behind this project.”

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.