Petroleum company will have to pay for repairs to Athens Hwy

GAINESVILLE - Taxpayers will not have to foot the bill for repairs to Athens Highway where that gasoline tanker overturned and burned Monday.

Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) spokeswoman Teri Pope said Wednesday the petroleum company will bear the cost of the repairs.

Pope says state law spells out the procedure to follow in such cases, and that the firm will be billed for the cost of the work because its driver has been charged with being at fault.

The driver, who suffered only minor injuries, was cited for failure to maintain a lane and driving on a suspended license.

Pope says GDOT personnel continue to assess the damage done to the road by the heat of the fire which melted the asphalt along about a 500-foot stretch of the road near the Jackson County line. She said it's not known when repairs will begin - but they will begin as soon as the weather is warm enough.

Pope says that may "be a while," however, because for asphalt to "cool and harden" the temperature has to be "consistently above 55 degrees." She said she expects at least one lane to remain open during the repairs through the use of pilot cars and that it will probably take "three or four days" to complete the work.

She said GDOT is trying to decide if it would be better to repair the road with its own crews or use a private contractor. Pope could not say how much the work might cost.