The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has called a public meeting May 7 to present slight changes made in the project to widen Highway 44 to four lanes through Greene and Putnam counties.
The Public Information Meeting will be held from 5-7 p.m. at the Putnam County Administration Building.
This will be the first GDOT public meeting since 2020 on the plans to overhaul the 10.5-mile stretch of road from near Willow Run Road, north of I-20 in Greene County, to Harmony Road in Putnam County.
Information provided to the Lake Oconee News Tuesday indicates GDOT remains firmly committed to widening the road to four lanes with medians.
Community groups worry that a four-lane highway would bring even more traffic than projected. Businesses are concerned that a center median would make it more difficult for customers to access their stores. They have pushed for eliminating the median and only adding a third lane that would be a center turn lane.
A major update to be explained at the May 7 meeting will be the addition of a sixth roundabout at Richland Connector.
The department previously announced the addition of roundabouts, instead of traffic lights, at the entrance to Harmony Crossing shopping center as well as the Scott Road intersection in Putnam.
In Greene, roundabouts will be at Merchant Street, Linger Longer Road and Carey Station Road.
Traffic signals along the corridor will exist at the eastbound and westbound ramps of I-20, Meadow Crest Road (at Oconee Towne Center), and at Old Phoenix/Harmony Road.
Speed limits would remain the same.
The project will be broken up into three phases. The latest projections indicate bids will be let in December of this year for Phase 1, which will run from near Willow Run Road to King Drive (at Atlanta Marine) in Greene County. If that happens, construction could begin in the first quarter of 2025 with a projected completion date two years later in early 2027.
On the latest timeline, Phase 2 runs from King Road to Carey Station Road and could start construction in early 2026 and end in early 2030.
Phase 3 is the largest segment that runs from Carey Station Road to Harmony Road, and the current forecast includes construction start dates in early 2027 with completion five years later in 2032.
The entire project is currently budgeted at $184 million.
Of course, anyone who has been following this project since the mid-1990s knows that public, private, and political pressure has changed the design, cost, and start dates.
Folks attending the May 7 meeting will be shown maps and presentations about the updated plans. The arguments are the same – four lanes are needed because of projected traffic levels – and, with the recent widening of Highway 441 in Morgan and Putnam counties, the belief is that both projects would encourage truck traffic to use 441 rather than 44.
GDOT will not take formal comments at the meeting. There will be a 10-day comment period following the information session.