Federal Funding "Uncertainty" Stalls Roswell Road Signal Improvements

The Georgia Department of Transportation said on Thursday it’s unable to release several federally funded projects for bids due to “federal funding uncertainty.”

The agency said 34 delayed projects, which are valued at $123 million, were set to go out to bid in December.

One of the projects on the list is a $1.6 million initiative to optimize signal operations along S.R 9/Roswell Road from Chastain Drive in Buckhead to Vernon Woods Drive in Sandy Springs.

Repeated shortfalls in the Federal Highway Trust Fund account have led to a series of brief funding extensions. The latest patch by Congress – the 34th short-term transportation funding extension since 2009 (and the third one in 10 months) – extends the federal government’s authority to process aid payments to states through Oct. 29, GDOT said.

“It has been ten years since Congress has been able to pass a transportation funding bill of more than a two-year duration,” said Georgia DOT Commissioner Russell McMurry. “Temporary fixes do not create the certainty state DOTs require in order to plan major transportation projects. We can’t do long-term transportation planning with short-term funding fixes.”

Other delayed December projects include:

• A $45 million resurfacing and maintenance project on Interstate 75 in Catoosa County from S.R. 3/U.S. 41 to the Tennessee state line;
• A $20 million resurfacing and maintenance project in Tift County on I-75 from south of Southwell Road in Tift County to south of S.R. 32 in Turner County; and
• A $3 million operational improvement on S.R. 3 at Windy Hill Road in Cobb County.

If Congress doesn’t reach an agreement by Thursday, Oct. 29, McMurry said the U.S. Department of Transportation will cut off payments for infrastructure projects to states and local governments in November.

“This poses grave challenges for our transportation system,” he added.

You can view a complete list of delayed projects online.

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