The Georgia Department of Transportation has announced a public information open house meeting to discuss the proposed detour of Hwy. 191 while a DOT project reconstructs the bridge over Scull Shoal Creek in Madison County.
The project will build a new bridge in place of the existing bridge. The new bridge will be approximately 250 feet long and 44 feet wide; including 10 foot wide shoulders.
The open house is scheduled for Thursday, May 26, from 5-7 p.m. This open house format meeting will be held in the Madison County Middle School cafeteria located at 3215 Hwy. 172 in Comer. Georgia DOT engineers will be available to discuss the proposed project and detour route. There will be no formal presentation.
“State Route 191 will have to be closed during the reconstruction of the bridge,” said DOT District Construction Engineer Randall Davis. “The purpose of the open house is to show the detour route to the community so that you know the status of the project and the detour. The new bridge will be 15 feet higher than the existing bridge. This change requires a detour because we can’t build the new bridge adjacent to the old. The work is expected to take about 12 months to complete depending on the weather. We will let the project for bid in June and if we award the project to a contractor, work could begin in August or September.”
The signed detour route will direct motorists on the northern side of the bridge to SR 281 then to US 29/SR 8 to SR 98 and back to SR 191. The reverse route will be utilized for traffic on the southern side of the bridge.
After the detour open house, you can view the displays of the project at the Georgia DOT Carnesville Area Office located at 310 Conger Road. The phone number at the Area Office in Carnesville is 706-384-7269. “Please call and make an appointment to ensure that someone is there to show you the project information,” DOT officials said.
The plans will also be available online at the DOT website at www.dot.ga.gov. On the home page choose “Information Center” next choose “Public Outreach” and select the project’s county and choose go. A list of DOT projects in that county will appear and you can select the one you’d like to view.
Everyone is invited to attend the detour open house.
