14 months ago
Central Georgians can look forward to another piece of the Fall Line Freeway falling into place. Governor Sonny Perdue approved fifty-one new state highway projects, all funded by federal stimulus money. One of those projects, a five-mile stretch of the Fall Line Freeway, will run through the city of Ivey in Wilkinson County, bringing with it, the hope of an economic boost.
Mayor Ann Evans remembers what the view from her office window used to look like before roadwork began outside the city of Ivey's town hall. She says people around town have told her it is not the prettiest sight to look at.
"They've argued and fussed about the inconvenience, but this is progress," Mayor Evans says, "I feel that they'll be well-pleased when it's completed."
Ivey is preparing for even more construction now, with a new roadway approved to be built, worth almost fifty-million dollars in Federal stimulus money.
"Things that have been talked about for over ten years," the mayor of four years says, "We can see it now. It's developing. Right before our eyes."
The developing road will run through Ivey to the Twiggs County line, and is just one part of the proposed state-wide highway connecting Columbus, Macon, and Augusta. The site of the new State Department of Transportation project is just a couple hundred feet down the street from the roadwork in front of Evans' office. She says she expects the construction to start as early as August.
"This is going to help Ivey," Mayor Evans says, "And help us grow. Put people to work. And that's what we need right now."
State Representative James "Bubber" Epps says that the impact of this new roadway is not limited to Wilkinson County. He says the whole region will benefit from the addition.
In total, the fifty-one D.O.T. projects approved Tuesday will cost almost one-hundred ninety million dollars in stimulus money. The Wilkinson County project is the largest in the state and will take about a quarter of that money.
