As work on one traffic signal on Highway 84 in Flemington continues, Liberty County commissioners agreed to help pay for another new signal on 84.

Commissioners agreed to provide $300,000 toward a signal at the intersection of Flemington Village Boulevard and Highway 84. The proposed Publix and another Chick-fil-A location will be built at that intersection and Flemington Village Boulevard leads to the Flemington Village residential development.

The developer also has contributed $200,000 for the project.

“We do see a lot of traffic turning left out of Flemington Village having a hard time,” county engineer Trent Long told commissioners.

A lot of the work for the signal has been done, Long said, and he will put out requests for proposals for contractors to put up the light.

“I can see where the light is going to benefit everybody there,” 6th District Commissioner Eddie Walden said.

Fifth District Commissioner Gary Gilliard also pointed out the difficulties for vehicles looking to turn left onto 84 from Flemington Village Boulevard. For his ESG crews, who handle public works for the City of Hinesville, turning right is sometimes the way to go.

“I go down to the Performing Arts Center and make a loop because you can’t turn coming out of there,” he said. “I think this is an improvement that will help with traffic congestion.”

The new light is about quarter-mile from the signal at General Stewart Way and Highway 84, which is right at the limit for the least amount of space between signals the state Department of Transportation prefers, Long pointed out.

Commissioners also approved a memorandum of understanding with Baldwin County for a critical needs shelter.

Liberty County and Baldwin County began working on a partnership two years ago, Liberty EMA Director Bob Dodd said. With the MOU in place, should Liberty County have to evacuate, those who are placed on school buses to leave will be taken to a shelter in Baldwin County.

The shelter holds 397 people, and when the county evacuated for Hurricane Irma in 2017, there were about 150 people the county placed on buses to be taken to more inland locales.

Coastal counties were paired with counties farther inland to serve as evacuation destinations. Liberty is the only county headed toward Baldwin. Counties of similar size were put together. Dodd said Savannah and Chatham County, for example, will take evacuees to Macon and Bibb County.

“This facility is for our critical transportation needs,” Dodd said. “We’ll put out open shelters for the general population.”

Those who will be taken to Baldwin County if an evacuation order is given include those who are on the county’s hurricane registry list.

Dodd said those take to the Baldwin shelter will remain there until Liberty EMA teams conduct a damage assessment and determine it is safe to return.

Commissioners also approved a change order to replace a box culvert on Islands Highway. The original contract, awarded to Platinum Paving, was for nearly $2 million. The county listed a cofferdam as an optional item and took it out of the plans, but the contractor said it was necessary in order for them to complete the job.

The original price of the cofferdam was approximately $610,000, and with the change order, its cost will be about $396,000.

Funding has been identified for the project, Long said, and the county also will seek supplemental funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. County Administrator Joey Brown said there were drainage funds remaining from previous sales tax accounts that can be applied to the work.

Long said the contractor won’t get started until the fall but the project should not take long.

“It is going to be a fast and furious project to get it done,” he said.

Commissioner Marion Stevens pointed out hurricane season is already underway and for residents of the east end, Islands Highway is the lone road out in case of evacuation.

“When we do decide to get started, we need to look at what storms are brewing, even off the coast of Africa,” Long said. “We need to make sure the contractor has all the materials on site and is ready to rock and roll when he decides to go forward. We don’t want to leave anybody on that end.”