Hwy 17 Completion in Sight
There is an end in sight. The completion of the widening and reconstruction of State Road Georgia Highway 17 is expected at least by early October.
Katie Strickland of the Georgia Department of Transportation says there are some areas of the highway still to be completed. “We do have a portion of the roadway open to all traffic. That was opened July 14th and all four lanes are open. We are still working on the widening and reconstruction portion from South of the Franklin County line to North of Scott Road and the two bridges involved in that project.”
Work officially began on the project in June, 2013 with completion scheduled for 2016. The Georgia Department of Transportation awarded the Highway 17 project to C.W. Matthews Contracting, Inc. of Marietta, Georgia in April of 2013.
When it is complete, Georgia Highway 17 will be a four-lane highway all the way between Memorial Drive in Toccoa and the Franklin County-Stephens County line. Strickland says if everything progresses as planned the end of the project should be within the next two months. “We hope to have the 4-lane open up to Hayes-Wilbanks weather permitting, but there is still work to be done from Hayes-Wilbanks to Scott Road for the end of the project. We don’t project that being done until the end of September or maybe beginning of October weather permitting.”
Cost of the three year plus project is just over $66 million.