The Fayette Citizen-News Page
Wednesday, August 19, 1998
DOT says Hwy. 54 East bridges will be ready by spring '99

By KAY S. PEDROTTI
Staff Writer

New bridges over the Flint River, Camp Creek and Morning Creek on Ga. Highway 54 between Fayetteville and Jonesboro will be open for traffic next spring, Ga. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) officials say.

Fred Landrum, DOT area engineer in the Hapeville headquarters, says that a plan for four-laning the busy highway has been shelved by air-quality issues, but the road will likely be enlarged at some future date.

"That is the plan," Landrum said, "but it's just a question of when it will be done."

Meanwhile, the narrow old bridges over the three waterways are being replaced, with highway alignment shifting to the new bridge locations. The portion of Hwy. 54 from the Flint River to Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro already has been resurfaced and slightly widened, but remains only two lanes.

Designation of the 13-county area around Atlanta as a "non-attainment area," meaning that no new air pollution sources may be added, has limited DOT work on some highway projects, Landrum said, particularly widening of existing roads.

"From the transportation standpoint," he said, "when traffic stands still or moves more slowly, more emissions are put into the air. But I think the reason for limiting widenings or four-lanings is that those kinds of roads promote development, which would add more traffic."

Sunbelt Structures is the construction company for the new bridges, which will be one lane each way with emergency lanes. The contract calls for completion by March 1, 1999, according to Dave Zoeckler, DOT assistant area engineer for the construction project.


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