Transportation plan moves up Forest Hill, Sardis Church roads construction

A Macon-based planning group said Wednesday that two long-discussed transportation projects -- the widening of Forest Hill Road and the extension of Sardis Church Road in south Bibb County -- should begin in the next year.

The measures are part of the Macon Area Transportation Studys next transportation improvement plan, which may get formally adopted next week by the groups Policy Committee. Wednesday, the groups Technical Coordinating Committee backed the plan with no criticism. Meanwhile, the groups Citizens Advisory Committee rejected the plan Tuesday night over concerns with the size of an Interstate 75/Interstate 16 interchange, the scale of Forest Hill Road projects, and the delay of bike lanes and sidewalks on other roads, committee Chairman Dan Fischer said.

The groups Policy Committee actually makes the decisions, while the two other committee votes are recommendations.

Bids for a three-lane section of Forest Hill Road could be awarded in August, officials said. That construction project affects an area between Wimbish Road and Northside Drive. Widening of a southern stretch of Forest Hill Road, from two lanes to four between Wimbish Road and Vineville Avenue, is now scheduled for fiscal 2016, which starts in the summer of 2015. Construction money for the southern stretch of Forest Hill Road hadnt been identified before.

Separately, construction of the long-discussed Sardis Church Road extension, which will connect to Avondale Mill Road and ultimately to Ga. 247, is expected to begin in the next year. Officials said rights-of-way largely have been bought. Construction of the $29.5 million Sardis Church Road interchange on Interstate 75 is expected to be completed next month.

But other projects are getting bumped down on the planning list because of a lack of funds. Construction of sidewalks on Riverside Drive, expected to begin in the next year, has been bumped back another two years as officials look for $450,000. Pierce Avenue bike lanes, a $562,000 project, face similar delays.

Fischer told The Telegraph that the Citizens Advisory Committee didnt see the sense in delaying inexpensive quality-of-life projects like sidewalks and bike lanes while giving the thumbs-up to programs that are overdesigned, expensive and potentially damaging, such as the interstates interchange and the Forest Hill Road widenings.

The transportation plan also calls for Macon Transit Authority, which has replaced most of its bus fleet, to defer bus buys in the next year. But Macon Transit would buy an additional seven buses in the three years after that, according to the plan.

The Policy Committee will consider the plan at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Bibb County Engineering Annex, 760 Third St.

To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-4251.

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Transportation plan moves up Forest Hill, Sardis Church roads construction