The first phase of the Hinesville bypass is going well, Liberty County commissioners learned at their meeting last week.
Atlas Technical Consultants field construction supervisor Tim McColley said the anticipated completion for the first phase is December 2027.
“The project is going great,” he said. “The job looks great. We’re very proud of it.”
“The project is very special to us,” said county commission Chairman Donald Lovette. “With the traffic we have going through our community, we are looking toward anything that can relieve that.”
But the road — pegged at around $33.8 million — is over budget.
“Building through a swamp is an experience,” McColley said.
Locating the utilities in the area has been a challenge, McColley acknowledged, but Trent Long and his engineering firm have been “a blessing,” McColley said.
“With the utilities, a lot of stuff was put in 20-30 years ago and the records aren’t there,” Long said. “It’s a challenge.”
The road, which will be 2.6 miles long, starts at Highway 84 about onehalf mile south of its existing juncture with Highway 119. The bypass will run parallel to Highway 119 before crossing over the CSX rail lines and two large wetlands on each side of the rail line.
“This bridge is over a swamp and over a railroad. It’s quite expensive,” McColley said.
The bypass will intersect with Arnold Road, Carter Drive, Walthourville Cemetery Road and Tibet Road before tying into Highway 119 east of the Dunlevie Road/Highway 119 intersection.
As a result of the bypass construction, Griffin Road was closed, with cul de sacs on either side. Carter Drive also was closed for a period but final resurfacing on it is the last item to be done.
Long added the hardest part of working in the wetlands was getting access, noting it was difficult to get the equipment into the areas to do boring tests.
“We had a lot of changes and a lot of money spent on foundations going through a swamp,” McColley told commissioners.
The first deck of the bridge over the rail line should be poured in the middle of this month, he added.
The state Department of Transportation also has praised the project as a “poster for erosion control and prevention,” McColley said.
“As project manager for Atlas, I take that as an honor,” he said.
McColley also praised the contractor, Reeves Construction, on the effort.
The bypass will have two 12-foot lanes and 10foot shoulders. The second phase of the bypass will take it from its eastern end on 119 to an intersection with Highways 84 and 196, but the final route for that second phase has yet to be determined. That phase could be about 10 miles long.
While state funds are providing the bulk of the money to do the work, local governments put up nearly $5 million in funding, mostly through transportation special local option sales tax proceeds. The federal government has provided about $2.7 million.
A separate project is looking at widening at 119, as traffic on that road increases.