Road work causes delays on North Columbia Street
Jonathan O'Brien | Reporter
(Milledgeville, Ga) — Crews working to move a gas line near North Columbia Street and Lakeside Drive have snarled traffic since the work began last week.
Lane blocked on N. Columbia St. March. 2, 2021
It's all related to the construction of a second entrance and "deceleration lane" for the new county government building. Baldwin County Manager Carlos Tobar told WGUR Radio workers from Atlanta Gas Light are in the first of a two-phase project. "Once that gas line is completely relocated, then we can go ahead and have our contractor finish the deceleration lane and entrance," Tobar said. "Then people will be able to turn right onto N. Columbia, and it will just make it a whole lot easier for the motoring public."
Even though the building was opened to the public last year, Tobar says they always planned to have a second entrance. The county initially requested to have the gas line moved last August.
According to Tobar, phase-one should wrap up by the end of the first week of March, but an Atlanta Gas Light employee on-site said that might be pushing it — early next week is more likely.
Traffic issues will persist for at least a month while construction crews work on the additions. "You can expect one more lane of traffic to be closed-off during that work period," Tobar said.
Benny Hill, an employee at Evans Automotive, told WGUR's Jonathan O'Brien, "it's inconvenient." The work crews blocked the entrance and exit to the shop on Tuesday morning; he said he'll be glad when it's finished.