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Macon-Bibb moves SPLOST money around to speed up Bass Road widening project

Commissioner Valerie Wynn says development was approved along the road before the road was developed.

MACON, Ga. — This year's been a big one for development plans in Macon-Bibb County.

From the east Macon development to a major renovation at the city auditorium, several areas in the county will get a facelift. Several of the projects will go on for a while, but commissioners want to speed some other things up. Shifting some money around may be the answer.

"I am excited about Taco Mac!" Commissioner Valerie Wynn laughed as she explained upcoming development on Bass Road.

That's on the way to Bass Road, along with a coffee shop to satisfy all your caffeinated cravings. Even a gym is in the cards to work off all those calories.

"For some reason, it popped up over there. Maybe it's because there's room to grow that way. It is beneficial to us as taxpayers because we get tax revenues off of that," Wynn explained.

With the influx of businesses comes an influx of people. With more people come more cars, all sharing the narrow north Macon road. In fact, GDOT says more than 12,000 cars drive along Bass Road each day. That's four times what it was back in 2010. Commissioner Wynn represents the area. She says that's why they need to expand the road.

"We developed along that road before we had the road developed. Plus, we're going to widen it," she said.

The developments are still a few years off, but commissioners hope moving some money around may help. Tuesday, they moved more than $3.5 million in SPLOST money from next year's fund to this year's fund. All that may help get this project rolling a couple months ahead of schedule.

"We're interested in getting this project completed as soon as possible, so we moved our timeline up on that money that was in the coffers, if you will, for that project so we could get it going," Wynn said.

That's not all that may speed up. The majority of the shifted money, about $2.6 million, will go toward renovations at the Macon City Auditorium. That will include a new ceiling, updated restrooms and concession stands. Another $384,000 will pay for new entrance work at Rose Hill Cemetery.

There's no updated timeline for the Bass Road project. The original estimate from GDOT in 2019 had work starting around 2026.

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