Thomasville to begin construction on $4 million sidewalk project

• Thomasville will build a 5-foot-wide sidewalk along Old Albany Road, starting in early 2025, pending approval.
  
• The $4 million project is funded by a federal grant and city contributions.
  
• Watch the video for more details on the sidewalk project and community impact.

BROADCAST SCRIPT

Old Albany Road sees a lot of foot traffic.

All those walkers need a safe place to go.

I'm following up on a sidewalk project designed to keep neighbors safe.

Thomasville is getting ready to build a much-needed sidewalk on Old Albany Road. The road is going to be 5 feet wide stretching from North Boulevard to Plantation Oaks Drive, covering a mile.

Eve Geyer, Project Manager tells me with high foot traffic in that area, having a sidewalk is crucial to ensure everyone's safety.

"That particular road has a lot of pedestrians from low to moderate income communities that walk. and that road really brings you into town into a lot of amenities such as parks, work, and grocery stores," said Eve Geyer.

Right now, the plans are in the final stages of review by the Georgia Department of Transportation, since they own that road.

Once GDOT gives the green light, the project will go out for bids and then Construction can begin next year.

"you're not gonna see any construction of the sidewalk right now. Construction will occur most likely the first quarter of 2025 and it will last for a year,"

"Wow, I just hate that it's taking this long," said Threadcraft.

I followed up with Loretha Threadcraft, owner of Tender Loving Care Daycare. She's been there over 20 years and is worried about the kids and parents who walk in this neighborhood.

"My main concern is for the parents that walk from the villa north and then they walk into the store and as they're walking along with the kids, you never know what they're gonna do sometimes they might dot out in front of the traffic and that's scary," said Threadcraft.

Loretha tells me that many neighbors rely on walking as their only means of getting around.

"there's a lot of people that don't have transportation. So of course, with no busing, like Tallahassee, unfortunately they have to walk," said Threadcraft.

The construction of the project alone costs around 4 million dollars, which will be covered through the city and a federal grant that funds projects providing non-motorist transportation opportunities.

"We have a grant that's 80, 20 so the city would have to match 20% of that will local funds," said said Geyer.

Geyer says that the broader goal of this project is to make Thomasville more walkable and to provide a safe and convenient route to downtown amenities like parks, shops, workplaces, and grocery stores.

While the project's design and planning are finished, construction won't start until next year.