Multiple Road Projects Ongoing, Upcoming
By REBECCA HAZEN
News Editor
Multiple road construction projects are ongoing in Dade County this summer, both on local roads and interstates.
Work is ongoing on Highway 136 west. The company working on that is Northwest Georgia Paving Inc., out of Calhoun.
“They are contracted to fix the side of the mountain which is sliding, plus all of the paving and resurfacing. It will take them at least a month to a month and a half to do that project,” County Executive Ted Rumley said.
The road will have one lane open during construction.
Rumley noted that the Highway 136 project is important because it’s the most heavily traveled road in Dade County.
“Even more so than Highway 11, because of where it goes. It’s an artery of Sand Mountain,” Rumley said.
The work that will be done on Highway 136 is similar to the work recently completed on County Road 6, but Rumley says that this project is not as large. There is only about 200 feet worth of road to fix, compared to about 800 to 900 feet of road on County Road 6.
On Morganville Ridge Road, more concrete is being poured. The earliest the work could be finished is in three weeks. After that, the road crew will begin paving. Morganville Ridge Road has been closed since June 15.
“We will really have to see what the rain does, but it is ahead of schedule, more so than we thought,” Rumley said.
Rumley continued, “We will decide then whether to go up Hales Gap Road, and we probably will. But we have some other short roads that we want to do. That’s going to be a long project. Burkhalter is also on the list too because it’s in bad shape.”
Rumble strips were also recently installed on Highway 11, part of a larger Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) project in the northwest counties.
Rumble strip work is also being done in Walker and Chattooga counties. All of the work is expected to be completed by fall of 2021.
“It’s only where the speed limit is 55 mph, not in the city limits,” Rumley explained. “It gets your attention, if you were texting,”
Work is also ongoing on I-59, from the Alabama line to Tennessee line, to put guard cables in on the medians.
“They will keep you from going all the way across the line. They will extend all the way through Dade County, which is something we’ve never had before,” Rumley said.
Rumley noted that once all of the ongoing projects are completed it will be about October, and they will go back to regular maintenance, which is mowing.
“We will fix any bad places to get us through the winter, and then we start all over again in the spring,” Rumley said.
Rumley recently attended a quarterly meeting with all counties in northwest Georgia to discuss all upcoming construction projects.
The I-59 paving project from the split to the Alabama line will be postponed until next spring due to funding.
There are three bridges in Dade County that need to be worked on, but work is not scheduled for a while yet.
The bridge at State Route 58 at Squirrel Town Creek, four miles north east of Trenton, has a let date (the date when the bids for a project are opened) of September 2022. Construction funding is in fiscal year 2026.
The bridge at State Route 136 at Lookout Creek is not on schedule due to design changes. Construction funding for this bridge is in fiscal year 2026.
Concept work has begun for the bridge at I-24 at County Road 146/Slygo Road, five miles north east of New England. The let date is May 2024, with construction funding in fiscal year 2025.