ATLANTA --- Thanks to $30 million in federal stimulus funds, another segment of the Fall Line Freeway is under construction along the 215-mile highway stretching from Augusta to Columbus.
The ultimate completion of the road will be a relief to truckers who must either detour 60 to 70 miles into Atlanta traffic if they want to stay on major highways or add time to their trip on the narrow roads nicknamed the "woodpecker trail," said Tom Mills, the president of Augusta-based Sanders Truck Transport.
"Until they do complete it, there's no reason to use it," he said.
Every mile of the project from Macon to Columbus is either open or under construction, but 34 percent remains closed from Macon to Augusta.
The newest section to begin construction is seven miles of road and a pair of bridges in Wilkinson County between Old Macon Road and North Lakeview Road near Gordon. The job went to Prince Contracting LLC of Tampa.
Also under way is the addition of two lanes near Fort Valley and a segment near the Baldwin County line that started in May. Also, the Transportation Department recently began acquiring right of way along Georgia Highway 24 from Baldwin County to the Sandersville Bypass.
One major hang-up in the project is in Macon. Road planners haven't found a route that satisfies environmental concerns and avoids sacred American Indian land.
"There has not been a final decision on how to deal with that," said Transportation Department spokeswoman Crystal Paulk-Buchanan.
The eventual route could become the path for Interstate 14, envisioned to run from Augusta to Louisiana. Congress has set aside money for the state to use in planning the federal highway, but the state must find the resources to match it.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
These make-believe interstates are never finished.
every little bit. I can still remember when I-20 was a segmented mess between Augusta and Atlanta. I'll be glad when the "fall line" is finished. I hope I'm still driving then.
...we really need an interstate from Augusta to Savannah
...we really need an interstate from Augusta to Savannah
...is there ANYTHING that ever pleases you guys??
The Savannah River Parkway is still not completed.
Riverman, have you taken 121 to 21 on the way to Savanna? It's 4 lane most of the way and 21 now bypasses all of those little towns. It's not the Parkway, but it's fast to Savanna.
HWY 25 is 4 lane for most of the way. You just have to stop in a bunch of little towns.
Interstate 14 and Interstate 3 will revitalize south Augusta. They can by-pass the sacred American Indian land by re-routing towards warrenton and gibson.
The fastest route to Savannah is Hwy 25 to I-16. A limited access connector to I-16 would be wonderful, which I guess is what the Fall Line Freeway will do, if a little too far west.
Augusta desperately needs a second freeway to come in here. That's what brings jobs and is just one of the many reasons why companies don't want to locate here.
The other reason is corgimom lives here.
Getting the right of way for interstates is a painstaking job. As soon as landowners are approached for the purchase of their land, they often suddenly get very greedy and expect top dollar. Then you have to go through condemnations where hopefully the fair value (fair to the government and fair to the landowner) is somehow met.