‘Bear with us a few more months’
The sidewalk installation on both sides of Burnett Ferry Road is expected to be done in January.
Bartow Paving crews are on track to finish the installation of sidewalks along Burnett Ferry Road in January.
Aaron Carroll, director of Rome’s en- gineering department, said Tuesday he meets with them twice a month for progress reports.
“They are continuing to install storm drainage; I’d guess that’s about 70- to 75-percent complete,” Carroll said. “The weather has been terrible. These pop-up thunderstorms make it difficult, especially for the boys pouring concrete, but they’re out there working every day they can.”
The 2013 SPLOST package contains $2,721,000 for the project, which starts around Abigail Lane near Shorter Avenue and runs down to the Alto Park Elementary School property. The work includes widening the substandard twolane road, eliminating the open ditches and installing curb and gutter in addition to ADA-accessible sidewalks.
“It extends just beyond the city lim- its,” Carroll said. “There’s a sidewalk coming out from the school that I didn’t want to leave hanging.”
The project, which started on Jan. 3 near Robinson Avenue, is slated to wrap up Dec. 29, if the weather doesn’t get worse than anticipated. It involves both sides of the road, and there are times when crews cut traffic down to one lane in certain segments. Carroll said there have been few complaints for such a major project.
“The citizens down there on Burnett Ferry Road have been wonderful,” he said. “Before we started, I sent them all a letter telling them this is going to be terrible … but if they can just bear with us a few more months, they’re going to have a beautiful project.”
One complaint that came in Monday was quickly checked out and resolved. A resident noticing Bartow Paving crews working on a private driveway expressed concern that it was being done on the taxpayers’ dime. But Carroll said it was a separate deal between the company and the property owner.
“None of the materials we pay for had anything to do with it,” he said. “Those materials belong to Bartow Paving. We’re not involved in that.”
Carroll said Burnett Ferry is a heavily traveled road with a lot of residential areas, including mobile home parks and apartments.
“Most of the reason why we’re doing the project is pedestrian safety. There were no sidewalks. The shoulder was very, very narrow. It wasn’t safe,” he said. “But this will make driving much safer, too.”