Thursday March 28th, 2024 5:19AM

Hall County Commission to spend additional $50K on Sardis-Ledan roundabout

By B.J. Williams

The Hall County Commission is set to vote Thursday on spending an additional $50,000 on the Sardis-Ledan roundabout project in the northwest part of the county.

The change order for the construction project was presented to commissioners at their Monday work session by Public Works and Utilities Director Ken Rearden, who said the additional money will allow the intersection to remain open while construction is underway. 

"They will be constructing temporary lanes with flagmen, possibly, if they have to have a lane closure here and there," Rearden said after the work session. "The contractor [ER Snell] is dedicated to having this project done as fast as possible."

Because of the temporary lane construction, the change order also adds another 20 days to the construction calendar. 

Initially, the intersection was to be closed for several weeks, but county officials quickly realized that couldn't happen with the start of the school year; the intersection is situated in the Chestatee High School corridor.

Commissioner Billy Powell, who represents the district where the construction is taking place, said the process has been frustrating for the Board. The construction was supposed to start right after school was finished in May, but because ancillary utilities dragged their feet on moving their utility lines, the project was delayed.

"My understanding is...they can get to it when they can get to it and there's no penalty involved. We don't really have any leverage to make them react quicker," Powell said. "That, therefore, delayed the entire project and when they finally got through, now here we are, a week before school starts."

Powell said the county will talk to state legislators to see if there's something that can be done to force utilities to act in a timely manner when it comes to future projects. 

Rearden said there will be some weekend day where the intersection will be completely closed to traffic. According to the change order, those closures will occur when concrete has been poured and needs to cure. 

At this point, the target date for completion of the roundabout is the end of September. 

 

 

 

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News, Politics
  • Associated Tags: road construction, Hall County Commission , roundabout, Sardis-Ledan Road intersection
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