State Rolls Out $1.5B Transportation Projects List; Bartow and Gordon Improvements Advanced

Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday announced how the state plans to spend $1.5 billion in surplus funds the General Assembly earmarked earlier this year for transportation infrastructure improvements.

Major projects in Gordon and Bartow counties are among the beneficiaries.

The one-time infusion of transportation dollars will raise spending on the Georgia Department of Transportation’s capital construction program by 58%. It also will more than double state aid to local governments for transportation improvements, boost funding for repaving projects by 32%, pay for improvement projects at various general aviation airports, and fund a new program aimed at improving the movement of freight across Georgia.

“What I like above all is it’s going to keep people working in all parts of our state... with money to spend to support their families,” Kemp told Capitol Beat in an exclusive interview.

Jannine Miller, the DOT’s director of planning, said 80% of the $1.5 billion will go toward adding roadway capacity.

“We are a growing state, both people and freight movement,” Miller told members of the State Transportation Board on Thursday. “That capacity is going to make a big difference.”

The biggest chunk of the funding — $593 million — will help the DOT keep pace not only with the additional demand on highway capacity resulting from Georgia’s population growth but with inflated road construction costs. The money will be used to accelerate the construction of 24 road projects.

“It gives us a big shot in the arm to make sure no projects are getting put on the back burner,” Kemp said.

In Northwest Georgia, the widening of Cass White Road in Bartow County from Busch Drive to just east of the Highland 75 Industrial Park is on the list. So is the improvement of the Ga. 53 intersection with Plainville Road and Brownlee Mountain Road in Gordon County.

An allocation of $15 million for the Cass White Road project will start construction a year ahead of schedule, in 2026, according to the GDOT report. Plans call for a slight realignment to include two 12-foot wide travel lanes and one 4-foot wide bike lane in each direction, separated by a 20-foot wide raised median. The outside shoulder will have concrete curb and gutter and a 5-foot wide sidewalk separated by a 6-foot-wide grass strip.

Kemp also earmarked $5.1 million to advance the Ga. 53 intersection safety improvement by three years, to 2025. It will be remodeled as a stop-controlled RCUT — a restricted crossing U-turn — that will send motorists on Plainville and Brownlee Mountain roads down and around instead of straight across Ga. 53.

Other highway projects to be funded through the infrastructure package include completing an overhaul of the Interstate 16/I-75 interchange in Bibb County — work that has been dragging on for years — expanding the toll lanes along I-75 south of Atlanta to allow the lanes to open both northbound and southbound at the same time, and extending Ga. 400 at its northern end in Lumpkin County.

The $500 million freight program includes 18 projects, highlighted by widening I 16 in Chatham and Effingham counties to improve the movement of cargo in and out of the Port of Savannah, improvements to Ga. 365 in Hall County to aid the flow of cargo out of the Georgia Ports Authority’s planned inland port in Gainesville, and improvements to Ga. 5 and Ga. 515 in Pickens County.

Cities and counties will get $250 million for local transportation improvements. Airport aid will be increased by $98 million, highlighted by construction of a new Griffin/Spalding Regional Airport. Resurfacing of state highways across Georgia will be funded through a $50 million increase in the DOT’s capital maintenance budget.