Nearly $400 million for road projects parceled out in October

Georgia Department of Transportation in October awarded contracts for statewide projects totaling $396.2 million, including nine projects that had previously been delayed.

While that's good news for Georgia drivers, the DOT announced last month that a bevy of other projects that were supposed to launch in December will be temporarily shelved due to ongoing federal funding uncertainty.

Last week, Congress passed a three-week bill to extend federal highway and transportation funding through mid-November. But that's a far cry from the six-year funding bill that most state transportation departments have been clamoring for. Federal lawmakers continue to try to hammer out a long-term plan before the next deadline on Nov. 20.

“A funding extension to November 20, 2015 indicates a willingness to achieve a long-term transportation funding bill that this country desperately needs," said GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry. "The downside of the one month extension is that the funding will not adequately advance all of the projects that are ready to go to bid in December and January."

The transportation investments made in October are primarily road widening and reconstruction projects outside of metro Atlanta. A few that are planned for the Atlanta region include:

• A 5.1 mile, $36.9 million widening and reconstruction project on Bethelview Road from Castleberry Road  to Ga. Highway 20 in Forsyth County, including construction of a bridge over Big Creek. The project is scheduled to be completed in June 2019.
• In Cobb, Douglas and Fulton counties, a 15 mile resurfacing and operational improvement project on I-20 from Sweet Water Creek to Hill Street Bridge, valued at $40 million. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2016.