State funds for Cherokee Road widening project forthcoming
Drivers have long known the common peril that can happen on Cherokee Road in the Cedartown area. One moment it is a pleasant drive without a soul in sight whether it is day or night. The next moment, it can turn into a terrifying reminder that the road is just too narrow as vehicles pass within inches of one another; especially those who drive big trucks, who have reported time and again to local and state officials that their mirrors have been knocked off in passing.
“It isn’t all that fun to drive on it at night,” State Rep. Trey Kelley said.
Now the county is in the position to do something about widening and resurfacing the roadway they took back from the City of Cedartown last year.
Kelley’s office announced on Friday last week the Georgia Department of Transportation has awarded funding for the widening and repaving of Cherokee Road, long overdue for a new coat of asphalt and road surface added on each side.
“I am excited to see the Georgia DOT fund this much needed project for our community,” Kelley said in a press release announcing the new awarded state funds.
“As the state representative for House District 16, I will continue to fight to improve the safety and well-being of our citizens.”
GDOT will allocate up to $300,000 or 70 percent of the project cost from to widen and resurface the road beginning at Booger Hollow Road and ending at U.S. Highway 27. The release stated that GDOT will fund the project through its Local Maintenance and Im- provement Grant Program.
Usually, the county is allocated LMIG funds based on a formula derived by GDOT determining how many miles of roadway the county will get to pave each year, with the list determined locally, and matching funds applied locally to cover the cost along with the county paving crews doing the work.
Kelley said in a followup interview on the announcement these funds go above what the county requested for the 2018 fiscal year.
They were sought via a group formed Commissioner Scotty Tillery, County Manager Matt Denton and Public Works Director Michael Gravett who worked to put together a plan that Kelley could push with GDOT leadership to upgrade Cherokee Road.
Kelley added that he was glad to be able to assist in connecting local and state leaders on getting the project done.
For the county’s part, Tillery said that much of the real work to get the project to this point was done by Denton and Gravett in the planning stages after the roadway was taken over last year.
“I’m looking forward to the county pushing forward on this project, because our folks put in a lot of hard work to bring all of this together,” Tillery said. “We all know what condition Cherokee Road is in, and it is a heavy traveled road. It’s time that we take care of it now so everyone can continue to use it in the years to come.”
Tillery added the work put in by Kelley is another example of “he is always working for our county.”
Cherokee Road was for a time under the control of the City of Cedartown, but underwent deannexation last year when the county took it over in exchange for the city covering the costs of the insurance coverage for the Polk County Sports Walk of Fame statues in front of Polk County Courthouse No. 1, and the paving costs for the parking lot next to Ideal Bakery on Main Street and the County Administration office on West Avenue in Cedartown.