Good News in the City

By Stone Workman, Mayor Pro-tem

Monticello and Jasper County have received several items of good news lately.

First, it has been a long time coming, but a recent meeting with Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) District Engineer Jimmy Smith, confirmed that the funds for the extension of Hwy. 380 is in the budget and the acquisition of right-of-way has begun and should be completed by December of this year. Planning and design should be done in 2017 with construction completed by 2019.

The extension will connect Hwy. 16 East with Hwy. 83 North and should alleviate a great deal of truck traffic from our square. A special thank you to State Rep. Susan Holmes, State Senator Burt Jones and Governor [Nathan] Deal for making this a purely State Funded Project. No federal or local dollars will be needed and the local governments do not have to provide funds for right-of-way.

Georgia DOT is also open to the possibility of removing the traffic lights on the Square making it more of a true “roundabout.” The DOT has proposed a test period of three months to see if the changes will be worthwhile.

The city will work with all local stakeholders and have a preliminary meeting later in the fall to discuss the possibility. Citizens traveling to the square in Covington can see what they have done there.

Your local governments have been working with Congressman Jody Hice concerning the dilapidated state of the U.S. Post Office and the lack of ADA compliance.

While the Post Office will be remodeled and is now a priority, the historic nature of the structure exempts it from ADA compliance. While we are happy for the remodeling, we will continue to press the USPS on issues of accessibility.

Your City Council continues to try to represent you as best as we can. The first seven months of the new council has seen many changes. I hope to continue reporting on the good things happening in our beautiful City on the Hill.