Burnett Ferry to get sidewalk to school

Also, Rome will ask for funding for transportation projects in the downtown River District.

Rome could call for bids on SPLOSTfunded improvements to Burnett Ferry Road in West Rome as early as next month.

Engineers are putting final touches on the design for the $2.5 million project, Public Services Director Kirk Milam told members of the Rome-Floyd County Transportation Policy Committee on Thursday.

The project involves curb and gutter and sidewalk improvements on both sides of the road, from Shorter Avenue to the city limits near the Hearthwood Drive intersection. A sidewalk extension to Alto Park Elementary School is also planned.

The TPC meets every two months to share the status of local, state and federal projects in the county.

Cherie Marsh of the Georgia Department of Transportation said right of way is being acquired for the next leg of the Rome bypass, U.S. 27 South to Ga. 101. A call for construction bids is scheduled for June of 2017.

The committee approved a resolution asking the Federal Highway Administration and Georgia DOT for an additional $100,000 to plan transportation improvements in the River District of downtown Rome.

The district is across the Oostanaula River from The Forum, between Second Avenue, Turner McCall Boulevard and the Fifth Avenue corridor

Rome-Floyd County Planning Director Sue Hiller said the money would be used to look at potential transit routes, sidewalk improvements and other ways to make connections.

“We want to make it an attractive and convenient asset to the community” Hiller said.

Hiller also explained new reforms to federal transportation planning regulations that she said may complicate the process.

She said an emphasis on regional cooperation and a requirement to establish measurable targets for success will mean more paperwork and staff time.

Floyd and Bartow counties are each considered Metropolitan Planning Areas, so they’ll have to coordinate more in the transportation planning process.

“And because Bartow is adjacent to Atlanta, it could get real complicated,” Hiller said.

However, Hiller said it’s unlikely the county will be affected by the restrictive air quality rules that impact metro Atlanta.