Several months and multiple meetings later, the Board of Commissioners’ dialogue on a planned roundabout near Ga. 400 culminated in a pivotal decision for the project.

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During their Feb. 2 voting session, the board unanimously approved a $1.547 million bid for the construction of a roundabout at Ga. 53 and Dawson Forest and Thompson Creek Park roads. 

Construction vendor Vertical Earth, the lowest bidder, was awarded the contract. 

As part of the motion, the board approved the use of $1,061,817 in Local Maintenance Improvement Grant funds from the Georgia Department of Transportation for the project and $154,708 in contingency funds, if needed, to come from fund balance. 

That contingency money wouldn’t be used unless there’s an issue with the project, said BOC Chairman Billy Thurmond.

The two-phase project will include the realignment of Thompson Creek Park Road and the construction of a roundabout. 

The developers for the Advenir and Enclave at Dawson Forest communities near the intersection are contributing $250,000 each to the project. 

About $15,000 has already been spent by the county to locate and mark property corners and do topographic field work at the intersection, Purchasing Manager Melissa Hawke previously told the board. 

District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines mentioned part of his and other county officials’ earlier discussion with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials.

Gaines asked on Feb. 2 about getting federal grant money to pave Thompson Creek Park Road from the roundabout to the boat ramp area, which Hawke said would have to be addressed separately from the roundabout project. 

Hawke mentioned possibly getting a rebate from Georgia Power for the installation of light poles “on the [Ga. 53] side coming in from Gainesville down that’s really dark and doesn't have that ambient light.”

“It’s a multifaceted vote–a long project to get to where we are,” Hawke added. 

In other infrastructure news, the county has hired a new public works director, Robert Drewry. He will start the job on Feb. 6. 

As a reminder, the recycling area of Dawson County’s transfer station remains closed for renovations. The county temporarily paused its acceptance of recyclable items in December.

DCN will report more on these public works topics in a future article.