There are six projects widening segments of SR 4/US 1 in the TIA 1 and TIA 2 final investment lists. Three are located in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) region and three are in the Heart of Georgia Altamaha (HOGA) region. Overall, SR 4/US 1 extends north and south through east-central Georgia, from Charlton County at the state's southern border all the way to the Augusta Metro area. As a primary transportation corridor, it's not surprising that local leaders and officials from two participating TIA regions chose to widen several sections of the highway, three in Appling and Toombs Counties in HOGA and three in Jefferson County in CSRA. One Appling County project located near Georgia Power's Plant Hatch has already completed major construction, but the all the other five projects are currently in construction.
For Jefferson County, having three sections of SR 4/US 1 under construction end-to-end has created a long construction work zone, with teams doing an assortment of tasks at varying stages of progress. Drivers traveling from Louisville to Wrens will encounter a number of crews and vehicles, and it's interesting to see all the progress underway at various points. It also takes some dedicated focus to maintain attention to the roadway and not get distracted by the range of activities.
For an extended example of the different crews a driver may encounter on this stretch of highway - and how they may steal focus - let's take a photographic drive through the northernmost project segment, which extends from SR 540 at Wrens southward to the Mennonite Church Road intersection.
For Jefferson County, having three sections of SR 4/US 1 under construction end-to-end has created a long construction work zone, with teams doing an assortment of tasks at varying stages of progress. Drivers traveling from Louisville to Wrens will encounter a number of crews and vehicles, and it's interesting to see all the progress underway at various points. It also takes some dedicated focus to maintain attention to the roadway and not get distracted by the range of activities.
For an extended example of the different crews a driver may encounter on this stretch of highway - and how they may steal focus - let's take a photographic drive through the northernmost project segment, which extends from SR 540 at Wrens southward to the Mennonite Church Road intersection.
At SR 540, the long rows of orange and white barrels show drivers that this project won't be a brief one and that they need to be alert. With only a three minute drive southward, we encounter our first crew and a traffic shift. While the project is 86% complete and much of the roadway already layered with new asphalt, there are places here and there where it is yet to be laid. Here, a backhoe is moving dirt and a tractor is leveling it, preparing the land for a new lane coming in. With large vehicles in the median, drivers on both sides need to be attentive to their movements.
After driving for only four more minutes, we see a small team of workers on the edge of the road. They're marking the new asphalt to ensure that the stripes they'll paint later in the day will be according to state policy. While they're all wearing their fluorescent protective gear for visibility and are behind barrels, it's easy to imagine how an inattentive motorist could cause a near miss or worse. Just a minute southward again, and we have some surprise utility crews! They're not with this construction project but were called in the early morning hours to respond when a vehicle hit a power pole in nearby right-of-way. Bucket trucks can be fascinating to watch in action, but drivers need to stay focused to avoid additional accidents.
After driving an additional four minutes, we pass a curious truck with a worker spraying a weird blue substance all over the dirt on the roadsides. If you start wondering what the blue stuff is, you're now driving a bit distracted! After a query to construction engineers, you'll be happy to know that the stuff is called hydroseed, a mixture of grass seed, water, fertilizer and wood fibers.
After another three minutes driving southward, we reach the project's southern end at Mennonite Church Road and Warrior Trail near Jefferson County High School. After making a U-turn and reaching Campground Road, we see the project's staging area just off the roadside. It's a large dirt area with piles of dirt, gravel and other materials, concrete pipe segments and trucks moving here and there and often entering and exiting the roadway. If you have kids, it's fun to identify the different construction vehicles, watching them lift and carry heavy loads, and now we're driving a bit distracted again. In this section of the project, it only takes a moment of inattention to the roadway to develop a dangerous situation.
When we get back to the SR 540 intersection, there's yet another crew that started work after we left. If a business or home has a driveway that's connected to a highway construction project, project planners are required to ensure that the driveway is repaired or replaced. This team is finishing up a local business's new driveway and resetting road signs. It's a bit of work to get a road sign installed according to state requirements, and seeing a stop sign bob up and down can definitely be a distraction.
The trip from this project's end to end only took 15 minutes each way, and yet we encountered six work teams in medians, on roadsides and sometimes in the lanes. That averages to happening upon a different group every 2.5 minutes. On one hand, we can be excited that so much is underway in this work zone and soon the region will have a bit more of this corridor expanded and resurfaced to accommodate growing numbers of commercial trucks for economic development as well as passenger cars driven by new residents and neighbors. On the other hand, if you're not used to moderating your driving to be safe and focused through work zones, you could be taking a number of risky chances passing the groups of workers, their equipment and trucks. And don't forget - this is just one of three segments of SR 4/US 1 in a row that are under construction. Georgia DOT's advice to #DriveAlert and #ArriveAliveGA while dealing with the multiple projects may be a challenge, but it's one that will keep everyone safe while long-anticipated transportation improvements are underway.