Contract awarded to widen portion of Ga. 40

Gordon Jackson, The Brunswick News, Ga.
·2 min read

Mar. 8—KINGSLAND — A high-traffic, accident-prone stretch of Ga. 40 in Kingsland is getting a long- awaited widening.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has awarded a $9.6 million contract to widen a 1.44-mile stretch of the highway from just west of Interstate 95 to Grove Boulevard in Kingsland.

City manager Lee Spell said the work will include a sorely needed center turn lane and a traffic light to replace the flashing yellow light at the intersection at Grove Road and Ga. 40 called Five Points. Once the work is done at Grove Road and the light is installed, William Avenue will dead end at the intersection, making navigating the intersection much safer.

Spell said those plans were made under a prior administration.

The work is being done on a section of Ga. 40 that will be deeded to the city of Kingsland in coming years. The DOT is nearly complete with the first phase of a road widening project to create a hurricane evacuation route from Kingsland to Folkston.

The work will link Laurel Island Parkway from St. Marys Road to Ga. 40 several miles west of U.S. 17. And that portion of highway will be widened to four lanes to the Charlton County line.

Once the four-lane evacuation route is compete, the Interstate 95 exit for Ga. 40 will be relocated to Exit 6 and the portion of highway east will be deeded to the cities of Kingsland and St. Marys will no longer be part of the state highway system. The highway currently crosses the interstate at Exit 3.

Spell said the agreement for the cities of Kingsland and St. Marys to accept the deed for that portion of highway was done years ago under a different administration. He said it may be difficult to make any changes to the agreement because of right of way acquisitions made by the DOT that were part of the original deal.

St. Marys Mayor John Morrissey said there are concerns about the DOT's decision to deed Ga. 40 back to the city. It could be costly for businesses to change their mailing addresses and confusing to delivery drivers once the change is made.

"I do think if there is a switch, a lot of addresses will have to switch," he said.

Morrissey said city officials have broached their concerns with DOT officials and may asked them to reconsider.

"It could be a big impact," he said. "There could be advantages and disadvantages. It's going to require some study."