The roadwork at Lewiston Road is expected to continue through the rest of the year, but progress is being made.
The work on this $25.5 million project started in April 2020 and was estimated to take 1,300 calendar days, which does not include holidays and Masters week, said Kyle Titus, the director of engineering services for Columbia County.
“So, if weather was not a factor, I feel confident it would be done the end of the year,” Titus said. “With weather being a factor, my best guess is first of the year. We’ve spoken with (the contractor) E.R. Snell, and they’re fairly confident they can hit that date, they’re on schedule…they are doing well, and they are on schedule, and we feel confident baring any major weather events they can stay on schedule.”
The project is a widening of Lewiston Road from two-lanes to four-lanes from Gateway Blvd. to just past Columbia Road onto Hereford Farm Road, Titus said. Work is currently being done on the interstate ramps, which is expected to be finished mid to late May.
“I anticipate they will start the diverging diamond work on the bridge shortly after that, so mid-summer they should start on the diverging diamond lane configurations,” Titus said.
A diverging diamond is common on bridges, and Titus said at the intersection of the ramps, the driver will cross over to the other lane of the bridge and then cross back over once off the bridge.
“What it does is it reduces the left turn conflicts and allows traffic to flow more smoothly,” Titus said.
Part of the project includes working on the Interstate-20 ramps, which has caused traffic to back up onto the shoulder of I-20. Titus said that is a function of the construction process and was happening a few years ago, so the county took some action.
“The county identified a shoulder right off of that ramp that could be paved headed north, so basically get off the ramp and head north onto Lewiston Road, that immediate shoulder on the right they could pave that and create a merge, an accel lane so traffic could get off and merge into traffic,” Titus said. “It worked very well. With this project, they’ve had to get rid of that temporarily so they could reconstruction it and they are working, of course weather permitting, they’re working on getting the ramps and that turn lane reconstructed. So hopefully, I think the last I heard was mid-May that it should be open back up and the issue on I-20 should be resolved when they are able to open that lane back up.”
When traveling onto Lewiston Road from Hereford Farm Road and heading toward I-20, the road currently shifts to the left, but Titus said that in the next month or so, this work will shift to the right side of the right-of-way to the existing lane at the signal can be reconstructed.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience,” Titus said. “I know these projects can be frustrating, but it’s what needs to be done. The corridor really needs it and we’re doing our best to facilitate it as quickly as possible.”
