Council Approves Transportation Improvement Plan

describes the city’s five-year transportation plan as a guide to addressing the city’s transportation needs.

“This doesn’t lock us into a schedule that can’t be changed,” Wilbanks said. “It’s a planning tool.”

The Dacula City Council unanimously approved the plan Thursday night.

The plan outlines the order in which repairs to the 84 city maintained streets will be made. Each of the streets has been graded on a scale of A to F based on the length of the road and severity of damage. The grades will be used to prioritize the repairs.

City Administrator Jim Osborn said he considers the listing of graded roads as a comprehensive planning document.

“It’s more of a guide. It’s not etched in stone,” he said.

All repairs will be funded using proceeds from the city’s special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST). Based on current estimates, the city has approximately $1.632 million in 2005 SPLOST proceeds and has allocated $2.184 million in 2009 SPLOST proceeds. The 2009 SPLOST does not end until 2013, so the revenue amount is subject to change.

The goal of the five-year transportation plan is to address the worst streets first and then proceed to the streets that are in less dire need of repairs.

According to Osborn, none of the city’s streets were graded as “F” or in emergency need of repair. However, several streets were categorized as “D” streets meaning damaged sections of the roadway exceed sound sections.

In other business, the council unanimously approved the award of a $26,500 contract to OHMSHIV Construction for repairs of the Spring Street Culvert pipe.

The culvert is currently serviced by a 32-inch pipe that is failing. Should the pipe fail, it would pose a threat to the road and the lake. The city engineer has recommended increasing the pipe to 42 inches.

In order to complete the work, a 12-foot open cut will be made on Spring Street to remove the old pipe and install the new, larger pipe. Only one lane of Spring Street will be closed at a time. The stream will also be diverted during the project.

Also on Thursday, local artist and pastor Matthew Mitchell presented the city with a print of Wood’s watercolor painting of the 1837 Dacula United Methodist Church Building. The original painting is on display at . Visit Dacula Patch on Friday for more on Wood’s painting.