MACON, Ga. — People who live and work in Lynmore Estates know Mead Road for its bumpy rides and traffic slow-downs — but Macon-Bibb County commissioners might have an answer this week.
On Tuesday, they're set to consider spending $576,160.22 to repave part of the road stretching from just south of the intersection of Mead Road and San Carlos Drive, north to Broadway. Right now, one part of the road is known for a group of potholes stretching across both lanes of traffic.
"The new people who come in and are not aware of it. That's the ones I feel bad for," Jerry Thomas, who runs a truck repair shop nearby, said. "It's probably about 12-foot wide and a foot deep. There's a sharp drop-off in it, and back up. We call it the Mead Road crater."
Thomas knows the crater well. It's around the corner from his shop, and it's on his test-drive route.
"Trucks, cars, everybody that works out this way or makes deliveries out this way has to drive around it because it's virtually impossible without tearing up a vehicle," Thomas said.
Commissioners are set to decide Tuesday whether they'll spend some cash to fix the crater. The money comes from their SPLOST proceeds. Macon-Bibb first asked contractors to name their prices in March, and the proposed figure was the best one.
"I've worked in this neighborhood all my life, and the road has always been rough," Thomas said. "It's a very bad pothole and it needs to be fixed."
Thomas hopes with the cash and a lot of work, his test drives will get a lot smoother. Until then, he'll continue using the same work-around he's always used.
"We personally haven't had anything ripped out because we go around it," he said.
Mayor Lester Miller says the Macon-Bibb Industrial Authority suggested the work to boost industry in the area. He says they've also heard complaints from businesses and neighbors.
Miller says crews would likely close one lane at a time so they can keep traffic moving. The county's original request for bids showed a closure of Mead Road in the construction area, and a closure at its intersection with San Carlos Drive. The plans also called for traffic being rerouted down Broadway and onto Guy Paine Road.
The mayor says it's possible they'll use that plan for part of the project.
In 2022, Commissioner Valerie Wynn estimated it cost about $1 million to repave just one mile of road.