by T.A. DeFeo
Georgia officials approved $16.9 million in loans and grants for five transportation infrastructure projects across the state.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and the State Road and the Tollway Authority Board of Directors approved the funding from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank. The latest round of funding includes the fourth-largest loan amount in the program’s history.
“While we’ve invested $16.9 million throughout the state this year, there were $52 million in additional funds requested, the majority of which was in the form of loans,” SRTA Executive Director Jannine Miller said in a statement. “Thanks to the members of the Georgia General Assembly, starting in Fiscal Year 2025, GTIB’s annual funding allocation from the state legislature will increase from $13 million to $15.4 million.”
The funding includes a $5.6 million loan and a $1 million grant for Peach County to pave two miles of Lilly Creek Road from State Route 49 to Brock Road and Fullwood Road.
Watkinsville will receive a $2.2 million loan and a $1.5 million grant to build a roughly 3,100-foot-long, 10-foot-wide path along Simonton Bridge Road between Mulberry Street and the Simonton Place neighborhood.
Locust Grove will receive a $2 million loan and a $2 million grant to build a two-lane road that will connect Peeksville Road where it intersects with State Route 42 to Frances Ward Drive.
Sandy Springs will receive an $850,000 loan and a $650,000 grant to realign the intersection of Hammond Drive with Boylston Drive and Hamilton Glen.
The Upper Westside CID in Atlanta will receive a $1 million loan for the first phase of improvements to Chattahoochee Avenue. The mile-long project includes converting a westbound turn lane into an eastbound one at the intersection of Howell Mill Road and Chattahoochee Avenue.
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T.A. DeFeo is a contributor for The Center Square.
Photo “Georgia Freeway Construction” by Georgia Department of Transportation.Â
