A posted bridge in Baker County will be replaced and portions of eleven roads in Miller County will get safety upgrades, just two of the most recent construction contracts awarded for the Southwest area.

Georgia Department of Transportation awarded four construction contracts totaling about $5 million for Southwest infrastructure improvements. Two contracts are for projects that are not on the state highway system. The other two are for resurfacing projects on state routes in Lee and Lowndes counties.

The Cross Road bridge over Big Cypress Creek is about 12 miles southwest of Newton in Baker County and was built in 1960. Georgia DOT programs replace off-system bridges that are posted or or, sometimes, closed, due to their conditions. The Cross Road bridge is posted. The construction contract is approximately $2 million and the completion date is spring of 2023.

In Miller County, safety improvements will be made to portions of Phillipsburg Road, Cooktown Road, Grady Cobb Road, Three Notch Road, Johnny Freeman Road, Babcock Road, Thomson Town Road, Avenue Road (at two locations), Helms Road, Griggs Lucille Road and Bush Dairy Road. Improvements may include new striping, raised pavement markers and signs. The construction contract is approximately $283,000 and the completion date is spring of 2023.

County governments are responsible for the upkeep of county roads. However, Georgia DOT receives funding annually from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for safety improvements on roads that are not on the state highway system. The money is divided equally among the Department’s seven regions statewide. It is important because GDOT's goal is to reduce crashes and about 40 percent of overall crashes statewide are on off-system routes. The locations chosen are data-driven, based on the number of crashes.

Contracts also were awarded to resurface State route (SR) 377 in Lee County from SR 195 to the Sumter County line and SR 135 in Lowndes County from north of US 84/SR 38 to the Lanier County line. Both have completion dates of early 2023.

Start dates have not been determined for these projects.