GAINESVILLE - With an infusion of money as the result of last year's state transportation bill, Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) officials are going to the contractor community for help in getting all of the upcoming work done.
Additions in motor fuel money, as a result of the Transportation Funding Act, are expected to result in an additional $757 million in the Fiscal Year 2016 and $820 million in the FY 2017 amended budget requests for DOT in the state.
"We have a lot more money to fix things, and I mean a lot. We're going to be doubling our construction work program and tripling what we do in maintenance ," District 1 (Northeast Georgia) GDOT spokeswoman Teri Pope said.
The funding means that several back burner projects are now on the calendar. It has created an external need for more contractors, because the agency's employee numbers are down following the recession. A good amount of the work would have been done by DOT employees 15 years ago.
"When I started at DOT, there were over 10,000 of us, so our workforce has gone down about 60 percent since then," Pope said.
Officials are holding industry forums across the state to brief companies on projects coming up and how to bid. Northeast Georgia DOT officials held their session Wednesday at the University of North Georgia Gainesville Campus.
Contractor Jack Wall of Wall Asphalt drove all the way from Carrollton.
"This year has kind of been off and on for us. It's been a little bit slower than last year, but yeah, hopefully it's going to get busier, that's the goal," Wall said.
He also said he was encouraged by what he heard during the forum. DOT Northeast Georgia District Engineer Brent Cook said all the work now on the table has his office and others directly asking contractors to bid.
"What we are trying to do is share with you guys what we are planning on doing with the new funding that we're going to realize, and try to get you guys interested in partnering with us and helping us in accomplishing that work."
Several major projects are now on tap for bidding in the district in the next 18 months, including a new $26 million interchange on Interstate 985 in Hall County. The exit 14 project is planned for north of Atlanta Highway near Martin Road, and has been on the wish list for some time.
"Now we actually have funds and years attached to the construction of that project," Pope said.
The top forecasted project in the district, as far as dollars go, is the widening of Athens Highway from Talmo to Gillsville Highway. The projected cost is $40.5 dollars.
"That was already scheduled to begin in the next year, because we've been buying right of way and working on that project for the last four or five years. That's the only one that was not moved up," Pope said.
The projects side of the coin is only part of the work. The Northeast Georgia district's proposed striping budget alone is $2 million.
"I think you're going to see the maintenance benefits sooner, because it can happen a lot faster than building a new interchange. We're going to restripe 985. We're going to restripe I-85. We're going to put down 75,000 new raised pavement markers. We're going to be able to do what we haven't been able to do because of funding," Pope said.
Contractors gathered at the University of North Georgia Gainesville campus to hear from District 1 Georgia Department of Transportation officials Wednesday about upcoming projects in the region.
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