Bids to be opened Fri. on widening of South Hall Road

GAINESVILLE - The state Department of Transportation will open bids Friday on the widening of a seven-mile stretch of Friendship Road in South Hall.

State DOT officials confirmed plans for the bid opening Monday.

The project also calls for the reconstruction and relocation of Friendship and Thompson Mills roads from near I-985 to Georgia Highway 211.

They said at a public hearing on the project last November that once work begins it should take about 3-and-a-half years to complete the project.

In April, a contract was awarded for the widening of Friendship Road from I-985 west to McEver Road. The contract was awarded C.W. Matthews Contracting for $11.6 million. Construction on that project should begin later this summer, and the scheduled completion date is November 30, 2014.