The budget crunch has pushed about $81 million in long-range White County road projects back to at least 2013, DOT officials announced at a regional meeting in Toccoa on Friday.

This newspaper already reported that Cleveland's 4.6 mile, $32.4 million bypass won't be completed until 2014, rather than earlier projections of 2011, because of funding constraints. However, the DOT is expected to begin buying right of way for the bypass this year.

State DOT engineer David Studstill and District 9 DOT board member Bill Kuhlke announced other construction delays at a meeting of area elected officials held in Toccoa.

Besides the bypass, other long-range White County projects which have been pushed back beyond 2013 include:

A $5.4 million road connecting Hwy 115 and U.S. 129 along Westmoreland Road.
A $33.5 million road from U.S. 129 to Ga. Hwy 384.
A $3.2 million project to widen U.S. 129 from Ga. Hwy. 284 near Clermont to the new Cleveland bypass.
A $6.2 million project to add passing lanes at eight locations on Duncan Bridge Road between just west of Ga. Hwy 115 and Ga. Hwy. 75.

The bypass is the only one of the projects that has been partially funded.

Last week's meeting was called by state Sen. Nancy Schaefer of the 50th Senate District.

Studstill and Kuhlke outlined an expected $7.7-billion shortfall that will occur during the next six years. The shortfall was attributed to a variety of factors, including skyrocketing construction and right of way acquisition costs, combined with potentially less funding from federal sources and the state motor fuel tax.

Studstill said the DOT sets its construction schedule every six years. Projects earmarked for 2007-2013 totaled an estimated $19.2 billion. The DOT expects only $11.5 billion in revenue during the same period, Studstill said.

"It's pretty clear we have to find some way to cut $7.7 billion," he said.

Studstill said funding is available only for three years of the six-year plan. That means some projects expected to be undertaken from 2007-2013 have been placed into the "long-range" status.

"That simply means we don't have the funding for them right now," Studstill said.

"We're not saying these projects are dead," he said. "We're just saying it's just going to take longer to get them done if the current funding levels stay the same."

Studstill said right of way acquisition costs for the DOT have tripled in the last five years and the price of asphalt rose more than 106 percent from 2005 to 2006. The DOT is paying $90 a ton for asphalt. A year ago the cost was $43 per ton.

Kuhlke said transportation legislation, now stagnant in Congress, could mean $180 million less for Georgia in 2007.

Habersham County Commission Vice Chairman Dr. Rick Austin attended the meeting.

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News Articles – 2007

DOT shortfall delays White projects

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