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A wider 67: Rocks will meet the road in 2019
$41 million contract to follow two decades of prep work
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Shown is a stretch of Georgia State Route 67 which is scheduled for widening beginning in 2019. The Georgia Department of Transportation has deemed the project a priority, and the stretch of road will be widened to at least four lanes over the entire 10-mile stretch. Four narrower sections will have five lanes but no median.

Clearing of trees from rights of way foreshadows construction, expected to last through 2019 and much of 2020, for the $40 million-plus widening of Georgia State Route 67 from Statesboro’s bypass to Interstate 16.

The prospect of a wider Fair Road path to I-16 has been a subject for local wishes and state planning for decades. “The discussion has been 20 years plus, I would imagine, and all of a sudden wham, bam — you know, which is great — the Georgia Department of Transportation decided that was one of the priority projects to get done, and I think it was because of necessity, really, and need,” said Bulloch County commissioners Chairman Roy Thompson.

From downtown Statesboro, Georgia 67 and I-16 provide the most direct route to Savannah. But unlike U.S. Highway 301, Georgia 67 remains limited to two lanes for much of the way to the interstate. Now it will be widened to at least four lanes over the entire 10-mile stretch. Four narrower sections will have five lanes but no median.

“That’s one of the main roads now traveled to hit 16 to go to Savannah or other places south of us,” Thompson said. “It’s just widely used, and to four-lane it was very, very much badly needed.”

In fact, the earliest project documents date back more than 25 years. Retrievable at the Georgia Department of Transportation website, www.dot.ga.gov, these include a Jan. 14, 1993, project concept report. The project number is 522460.


Lanes: 4, 5 and bike

Final plans call for the existing two-lane roadway to be rebuilt to four lanes with a 32-foot-wide depressed median for most of the 10.02-mile project length. But the sections with five lanes will actually be narrower, with a 14-foot paved center lane serving as a two-way left-turn lane.

“The five-lane section would enable the project to avoid impacts to commercial sites and historic properties in the community of Denmark as well as other historic properties along the corridor,” states a summary provided this week by Jill Nagel, Georgia DOT District 5 communications officer.

“Most of the widening will occur along the east side of the existing roadway, shifting to the west side only to avoid specific historic properties,” she wrote.

Construction of a bridge and approaches over Woodcock Branch is also part of the plan.

This section of State Route 67 has been designated as part of a Statewide Bicycle Route corridor known as March to the Sea, Nagel noted. So, to accommodate bicycles, the planned improvements include a 6.5-foot paved shoulder in the rural sections and 4-foot bike lanes in the sections with curb-and-gutter.


Reeves at work

The Georgia DOT awarded a $41,168,661 contract in August to Reeves Construction, lowest-priced of several bidders, and issued a notice to proceed in October. The contract figure does not include the cost of right of way acquisition, completed in February.

So far, the contractor has been clearing and grubbing the limits of the project and beginning to burn debris piles. Utility companies are relocating their lines as the way is cleared, Nagel reported. Contractor crews are also installing a silt fence and erosion control devises where needed.

After the holidays, the contractor will begin digging ditches and placing driveway pipe and other drainage structures, Nagel wrote. Dirt hauling is also slated to begin then for construction of the new roadway.

The DOT predicts that the work will be completed in fall 2020. A Georgia General Assembly press release cited 670 calendar days as the maximum allowed for construction.

So drivers can expect some disruptions along the route in 2019 and 2020, but Nagel said these will be limited by the nature of the project.

“They will construct the new lanes, and then they will shift traffic onto the new lanes and then reconstruct the old roadway,” she said on the phone. “Where you see them clearing is where the new roadway will be.”


Legislators comment

The Georgia Senate Press Office this week issued a release hailing the project as one awarded to Bulloch County by the Georgia DOT. Department of Transportation documents refer to such contracts on a county-by-county basis. But this is a state project, which Nagel said received some federal funding earlier in its development.

Also carrying a Georgia House of Representatives logo, the press release quoted the area legislative delegation.

This project “will greatly improve traffic flow and congestion in these areas,” Rep. Jan Tankersley said in the release.

“Travelers will surely see the positive outcomes that these projects will offer, and I am grateful to GDOT for awarding Bulloch County with these funds,” she said.

Rep. Jon Burns reportedly called the four-laning “a long-standing need that will enhance the flow of traffic between Statesboro and Savannah.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Butch Parrish said he is “eager to see the positive impacts… for our citizens.”

“These additional lanes will ease traffic congestion, and the construction of the bridge will give our citizens another option when commuting through the county,” said Sen. Jack Hill. “I look forward to working with GDOT to secure additional funding for projects like these that increase commuter safety.”

Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.