MACON, Ga. — If you drive through Highway-247, you're probably used to the construction happening.
It's a major road project on the main commuter route between Macon and Robins Air Force Base currently in the works.
Active construction work started at the intersection of Broadway, Houston Avenue, Pio Nono and Hwy-247 in the February 2023, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).
However, Google Maps images show cones around the site in April 2022.
Since 2016, commuters have driven by the intersection Swamp Donkey Off-Road sits at.
Jeremy Pitts, the business owner, says he thinks the roundabout project is needed, but since the beginning of this year, the construction has been causing more problems for him than he can handle.
"The construction on Highway 247 is driving me crazy," Pitts said.
Most of his employees drive from Broadway and use a cleared dirt path in front of Hertz, which they call "the access road," beside the business to get to work.
Pitts said his customers come from all directions, including the access road.
"We get customers here all the time if they do make it here, most of the time they let you know, 'Hey, it was kinda difficult to get here,'" Pitts summarized what his customers tell him.
"There's nothing I can do about it, unfortunately." He said he responds to them saying. "Maybe, when they get done, it'll be a little bit better."
While driving south on Broadway, you'll find Swamp Donkey on your left side. However, you can't access the store from Broadway, Houston Avenue or Pio Nono because of the construction work.
Instead of turning left onto the access road in front of Hertz, you have to drive further south onto Highway-247, keep right and turn right onto Houston Road, make a sharp left and U-turn back onto Hwy-247.
Then, you have to merge to the rightmost lane so that you can make a right onto Broadway and turn into the Swamp Donkey Parking Lot.
Upon arrival, you're greeted by potholes, uneven pavement, cracks in the road and a whole lot of dirt.
"Some days they have a lane closure, and we have to drive down there and send a text because it takes 20-30 minutes to get down there because they get stuck in traffic," the business owner explained.
Usually, folks take the dirt road from Broadway to his store, but now, Pitts said, "for the last 8 or 9 months, it's been inaccessible."
He showed us where the men at work are "stacking dirt" and other debris on the right of way in front of his parking lot and the access road beside his store.
"Right now, they have an orange thing out in the middle of it, but it used to be an actual road that went right there," Pitts said.
You have to squeeze through cones to access his parking lot with your vehicle; Pitts said it wasn't always this hard to get to his store.
Before GDOT starts any projects, they send out representatives to talk to people in the community.
Gina Snider from GDOT said in a statement, "The Department has done outreach to the local community concerning this project and also conducted a Public Information Open House (PIOH) on August 27, 2019 for this project. Once the project is let to construction, the point of contact would be the Danny Miller, the Area Engineer. The Department continues to have open communication with the local community concerning this project."
Pitts said his main point of contact since learning about the project has been Miller.
According to Pitts, he sends Miller updates when anything drastic happens to his property.
For example, Pitts explained he reached out when there were potholes and pavement problems construction brought.
"They replaced sewer lines, gas lines, they had to replace fiber optic cables they drilled into and all that's been straight through the middle of my front parking lot," Pitts said.
The contracting company's response to him was to draw a few lines on the pavement, Pitts showed. The lines closer to the main road are the portion the contractors will repair, Pitts elaborated; the lines closer to his business "mark 'my property, so it's my responsibility, they told me."
The business owner said he expected for some disruption from the construction, but now that it's hurricane season he's facing problems he could never anticipate.
When heavy storms came through Central Georgia near the end of July and early August, Pitts remembers coming to work and finding his store flooded.
The inside of his store, including the lobby and storage areas, were swamped.
Pitts said he notified his GDOT contact imediately.
Their solution, he explained, was to leave sandbags in the front of his store.
At this point, Pitts said, he just wants the contractors to repair the problems created from the construction.
"I know they're just doing their jobs, like you and I are," he said. "I just need some guarantee they'll fix my property when they're done with the roundabout."
GDOT told us the contractors first met Pitts in August of 2019 when they did community outreach to make local property owners aware construction could affect them.
They added they met with Pitts twice again this month.
As for the problems affecting his busienss, GDOT said, "The Department has made no changes to the roadway in front of Mr. Pitts business. The Department requires the contractor to maintain adequate drainage on existing drainage structures during the construction of the project."
We mentioned the contractors used sandbags as a solution for the flooding problems in the parking lot of Swamp Donkey Off Road, and Snider told us GDOT had not part in that decision or action.
"The Department was not aware and did not direct the General Contractor to used sandbags in front of his property," according to a statement.
Are any roads around Central Georgia driving you crazy? You can contact us at news@13wmaz.com.