City originally hoped to have cart path connection open in April

It’s been more than a year since the western leg of Ga. Highway 54 has been opened to four lanes of traffic, but the cart path bridge that was built as part of the project remains closed.

The path connections to the bridge haven’t been built yet and are currently hung up in the approval and permitting process with the Georgia Department of Transportation, city officials said.

The city had initially planned to have the bridge opened by April of this year, but the DOT’s permitting process has taken a bit longer than planned, city officials have indicated.

The bridge structure itself was installed in mid-September parallel to the CSX railroad bridge, and the DOT built the needed tunnels under the highway and associated paths. One can proceed down a spiraling, landscaped path from the Best Buy parking lot to the tunnel under the road, but there’s no way to reach the bridge yet.

Once complete, it will allow residents to traverse from the McIntosh Village shopping center to the Marketplace shopping center and also to The Avenue shopping center.

Currently the only way for residents in the West Village to reach the rest of the city is via a bridge over Ga. Highway 74 just north of Aberdeen Parkway.

The Hwy. 54 cart path bridge was delayed for months awaiting an approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation that the project wouldn’t adversely affect air quality, though it turns out the permit was granted within two weeks although the city hadn’t been notified, according to city documents.

The city now is awaiting approval of the engineering plans to complete the project, City Engineer David Borkowski, said. Once the plans are approved, the city can proceed with acquiring right-of-way for the project, Borkowski said.

At a recent council meeting, Borkowski indicated that part of the project’s delay can be attributed toward the city’s use of a grant to fund construction of the cart path connections for the bridge.