In some areas, Habersham County residents and travelers are seeing county roads being paved. This year’s paving projects have really just begun.
The Habersham County Commission approved this year’s paving contract during its July 15 commission meeting. The contract was awarded to the low bidder Pittman Construction Company Inc. for $3,049,126.38.
Last week, Pittman Construction crews could be seen paving Tech School Road that runs from GA 197 to Wall Bridge Road, affecting travel to and from North Habersham Middle School and North Georgia Technical College. The crew should finish paving that road just after the Labor Day holiday and move to the next road.
According to county documents, the project includes milling, patching, leveling, and the resurfacing of approximately 17.59 miles of county roads. The average cost per mile is $173,344.31, putting Habersham County on a 40 year paving rotation for roads. The documents state that 38 various county roads will be paved this fiscal year.
The $3,049,126.38 paving contract is funded using special local option sales tax (SPLOST), the Georgia Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant and the Supplemental Local Road Administration Grant. SPLOST will make up $1,224,068. LMIG came in at $815,302 from DOT and the Supplemental Grant came in at $1.009,756.
The Supplemental Grant was budgeted by the state to supplement the LMIG grant to assist local governments in funding additional transportation projects for this year.
The LMIG grant requires a 30% match of county funds or $244,590.52. SPLOST funds set aside for this project meets that requirement. The Supplemental Grant does not require a county funds match.
Caution is advised when traveling through construction zones. Drivers are encouraged to obey the posted speed limit, flaggers, and warning signs for their and the construction crews’ safety.
