GDOT schedules meeting to discuss Cleveland detour

CLEVELAND - A meeting will be held next week in Cleveland to discuss detour plans for the first phase of construction on the West Cleveland ByPass.

The open house format meeting will be held in the gym at Jack P. Nix Primary School in Cleveland March 3 from 5:00-7:00.

Georgia DOT engineers will be available to discuss the proposed project and the detours required for construction. There will be no formal presentation.

This project will build a new four-lane divided highway from U.S. 129 south of Cleveland around the western side of Downtown Cleveland to State Route 115.

"Three detours will be needed during construction," Georgia DOT District Engineer Todd McDuffie explained. "Each detour will last for approximately one month while substantial grade changes are made to accommodate the new roadway. We are working to complete right of way acquisition on the project. Our goal is to let the project for bid late this fall or early winter with construction to begin next spring. We will share more details at the open house."

The West Cleveland Bypass is broken down into three phases or projects. Phase two begins at SR 115 and continues north and west to US 129 north of Cleveland. Phase three continues the bypass along Hulsey Road to State Route 75. Currently funding is not identified for construction of either Phase Two or Phase Three.

Anyone unable to attend the detour open house may send comments on the project to Glenn Bowman, Georgia DOT, 600 West Peachtree Street, 16th, Floor Atlanta, Georgia 30308. All comments will be considered in the development of the final project design and must be received by March 14, 2011.

After the detour open house, you can view the displays of the project at the Georgia DOT Cleveland Area Office located at 942 Albert Reid Road or the Georgia DOT District Office located at 2505 Athens Highway in Gainesville. The phone number at the Area Office in Cleveland is 706-348-4848. The phone number at the DOT District office is 770-532-5526. Please call and make an appointment to ensure that someone is there to show you the project information.

The plans will also be available online at the DOT website at www.dot.ga.gov. On the home page 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.