Warm Springs Road widening project almost done. (Columbus, Talbotton: construction, elementary school)

[Fountain-of-youth]

For those of you who travel the Talbotton/Warm Springs Road corridor, you probably noticed the road construction is almost complete.

And, there has been nothing easy or inexpensive about this 2.1-mile road widening project. It took 27 years and cost about $65 million dollars.

“A pretty short project,” said retired Georgia DOT Commissioner Sam Wellborn. “But a long project in terms of its meaning.”

Wellborn spent 27 years as a Georgia DOT commissioner before returning in 2018. And Wellborn dealt with this project in Midtown Columbus much of that time.

“It holds the distinction of being the longest project on the DOT books that never got done until 2016,” Wellborn said. “I think it’s been on the books since 1993.”

The question is why did it take so long to turn two lanes into four?

“Some of the delays were definitely due to redesign, right of way issues,” said. Georgia DOT spokesperson Penny Brooks. “There are many, many owners of property along that corridor. But we also went through a recession.”

The project went into the planning and design phase in 1993. The first public hearing was held at Hannan Elementary School on February 24, 1999.

About five years ago, bids were taken and Robinson Paving of Columbus won the contract and began construction. It was scheduled for completion next year.

You want to hear the irony in this deal?

“It’s actually happening ahead of schedule,” Brooks said. “Which is kind of ironic given the overall timeline of this project.”

The cost is a jaw-dropping number.

“Sixty-five million including everything,” Wellborn said. “Right of way was $14 million. Moving the utilities was $12 million. Construction as approximately 35 million.”

The cost was driven by the difficult of the project, Wellborn said.

“Coming through this intersection was difficult,” he said this week as he drove through the area near Buck Ice and Coal, where Talbotton Road changes names to Warm Springs Road. “We had to really work to get by there.”

It started in 1993 and most of the construction barrels were moved out of the roadway earlier this week. All that remains now is punch-list items.

Though it was a Midtown Columbus project, it was done and paid for by the Georgia DOT.

“There was nothing easy about this project,” Wellborn said. “It was probably the toughest project I have ever been involved in, as evidenced by it taking so long.”

Acquiring right of way from dozens of property owners was the trickiest part of this deal.

“That’s one of the reasons it took so long,” Wellborn said. “The department doesn’t like to encroach on people if they can help it. They can help it just by not doing the project for a while.”

It gives Columbus drivers new options.

“This project does have a major impact,” Brooks said. “There are going to be more easy ways to get to I-185 now, for an example. It connects both of the hospitals; it provides better and easier access to the university.”

Wellborn predicts it will become a well-worn path through Midtown — to and from downtown

“And I think in a few weeks when people realize this is open,” he said. “You will see a lot more traffic.”


https://www.wrbl.com/news/warm-sprin...dxVU2rRXsjKXOA

[amyers3]

Only 27 years...

[columbusboy8]

Sam Wellborn has also done a lot for Columbus, and is heavily involved in the promotion and further development of the Columbus Botanical Garden on Weems Rd. Be sure to go there and visit the Camellia Garden. Just follow the peaceful and interesting walking trail....

The Botanical Garden keeps getting better and better, thanks to Sam Wellborn and its Executive Director, Dawn Grantham, and her staff, employees and volunteers! Also kudos to the Garden's Board of Directors! Take a picnic basket and go there! Go online and be sure to check out the Master Plan link...and donate money to help the effort.

www.columbusbotanicalgarden.org

[stewbaby1986]

And y'all want the government to run your healthcare....

[JayHey]

Stewbaby with the segue out of left field.

Drawing a comparison between this lengthy road widening project and healthcare is the most boneheaded thing I've read all week.

[Fountain-of-youth]

In 1993 Columbus still had its original layout.

[stewbaby1986]

Can you name for me one efficient, under-budget, transparent government ran agency? Typical liberal, can't battle ideas and has to resort to name-calling.