HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — If you live in Houston County or travel through the area, you could see some big changes coming to a stretch of Houston Lake Road. Tuesday, county commissioners hired a contractor to widen a roughly 4,000-foot section from Kings Chapel Road to Gray Road. The goal is to eliminate some of the traffic tie-ups there.
According to Robbie Dunbar, Houston County's Director of Operations, up to 11,000 cars a day travel on Houston Lake.
“It is overdue needing widening. The volume of traffic alone will warrant the widening,” said Dunbar.
This new project will place a turning lane to allow for smoother traffic flow. Dunbar says this is the fifth phase of a widening project that started in 2001. It stretches from Centerville, through Warner Robins, then into Perry.
“This last leg, which is currently a two-lane road section of road having ditches on both sides, is kind of become a choke point,” said Dunbar.
Arwen Gingerich who lives in Perry says she travels this road frequently.
“Probably three to four times a week and my husband every day,” said Gingerich, so she says widening the road will be a great help.
“I just think it'd be more convenient, it will make travel times a little faster and again a little safer you get impatient people who want to pull around or try to speed things up, and it could help with that issue, I think,” said Gingerich.
Dunbar says in addition to the turning lane, there will be more benefits.
“It'll have a sidewalk on both sides of the road. There'll be a traffic signal added at King's Chapel Road, which will be a safety enhancement,” said Dunbar.
Funding for this project comes from the 2018 SPLOST fund.
The project will cost about $4.3 million. The city of Perry will pay $1 million and the county will pay the rest.
Dunbar says they hope to finish the project within two years – Robinson Paving Company is the contractor.