GAINESVILLE - Georgia DOT announces a public information open house meeting to discuss the proposed detour for the reconstruction of the State Route 59 bridge over the Grove River 6.5 miles southeast of Homer.
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 5, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Banks County Courthouse Annex in Homer. Georgia DOT engineers will be available to discuss the proposed project and detour details. There will be no formal presentation.
The existing bridge was built in 1938 and does not meet current design standards, according to DOT officials. The bridge is 280 feet long, 26 feet wide and does not have shoulders. The new bridge will be 280 feet long and 40 feet wide featuring 12 feet wide lanes and 8 feet wide shoulders.
Officials say the detour will allow construction to move much faster and cost much less than if traffic continued to use the bridge while a parallel structure was built. They say the cost savings is $877,028. The proposed 11.2 mile long detour will use state routes only, no city or county roads. Traffic will be routed from SR 59 to SR 15/US 441 to I-85 to SR 63 and back to SR 59.
After the meeting, you can view the displays of the project at the Georgia DOT District Office located at 2505 Athens Highway in Gainesville.
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. Newer projects are at the bottom of the project list.