Habersham County has become the home of the orange construction barrel as Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) continues to work on highways and bridges in and around the county.
Roundabouts
Habersham County residents are seeing construction moving forward with the roundabout located at the intersection of GA 105 and GA 115 in the Fairview community. According to DOT District 1 Planning and Programming Liaison Elizabeth Johnson, the roundabout is nearly 30% complete.
The $4,981,735 project began late summer 2023 and is not expected to be completed until May 31, 2025.
About the time one roundabout is completed another will begin. The roundabout to be located at the intersection of GA 17 and GA 197 in Clarkesville has not started yet but is on its way. Johnson states that the project will go out to bid in April 2025. The project has seen delays with right of way acquisitions and design changes due to infrastructure at that location.
Retaining wall
The retaining wall adjacent to Central Avenue in Demorest sustained significant structural damage during Hurricane Delta in October 2020. DOT bid out the project and awarded it to Vertical Earth in February 2023 for the bid amount of $732,928. The project set idle for nearly three years until May 2023 when demolition and construction began.
However, the wall sat idle again due to delays in shipping of the required hand railing located along the sidewalk at the top of the retaining wall. Another set back came when the sealant on a portion of the sealant was defective and had to be replaced, delaying the completion of the hand rail installation.
Until recently, the sidewalk was lined with construction barrels with one end of the sidewalk still blocked to pedestrian traffic. Johnson said that according to the area office, the project is complete and open to the public.
Johnny Mize Bridge
For nearly a year, the city of Demorest and other utility companies have been moving their utilities in preparation of the bridge replacement project that will traverse Hazel Creek adjacent to Piedmont University. The $6.8 million project is not expected to be completed until April 2026. Johnson has not responded with an update on this project.
Duncan Bridge Road bridge replacement
Another bridge replacement project for Habersham County will also affect White County residents and travelers heading to Helen and points north.
The bridge on GA 384/Duncan Bridge Road at the Habersham /White County line that traverses the Chattahoochee River will be replaced in the near future. Few details of the project are available at this time. According to Johnson, the project is in the preconstruction phase with engineers working on the design. Bids will not be received for this project until around May 2027.
Motorists traveling on area state routes need to remain vigilant and use caution when traveling through these construction zones. Traffic delays are expected to continue as work progresses on each project. The Georgia DOT urges drivers to watch for construction crews and obey the posted speed limit.
