Macon-Bibb to Fast-Track Road Repairs with Proposed $25 Million Bond
Macon-Bibb County is poised to significantly accelerate its road repair efforts thanks to the “Paving the Way” program, funded by a recently passed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). During his annual State of the Community Address, Mayor Lester Miller announced his intention to ask commissioners to approve a bond of up to $25 million in May. This bond would allow the county to accomplish 25 years’ worth of road paving within the next four years.
The Paving the Way program aims to repave, restripe, and repair the county’s most deteriorated roads. A comprehensive evaluation of 1,124.57 miles of county-owned paved roads was conducted by StreetScan, a leader in infrastructure assessment technology. Using advanced LiDAR technology, 360° imaging, and AI-powered analytics, StreetScan created a detailed digital map of Macon-Bibb’s road network. This data will be processed over the next 3-4 months to determine a pavement condition index (PCI) for each street, identify specific road distresses (cracks, potholes, etc.), and provide 360° imagery. This assessment will be crucial in prioritizing roads for repair.
Mayor Miller emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “For too many years, a lack of funding meant our roads deteriorated faster than we could fix them. We have already put millions more into this work and begun catching up by focusing on our worst roads, but now we need to determine which are coming next.”
In the initial phase of the Paving the Way program, nearly $15 million from the general fund, SPLOST, and state Local Maintenance & Improvement Grants (LMIG) was allocated – nearly five times the amount used in previous years.
Several roads have already undergone repaving, restriping, and reflector replacement in the first round, including Belmont Avenue, Atwood Circle, Ann Place, Atwood Drive, Hawkins Place, Evers Place, Sorrell Drive and Sandy Drive, the Carriage Way area, Forest Hill Road (from Rogers Road to Wimbish Road), Hollingsworth Road (from Mumford Road to Log Cabin Drive), Morgan Drive, Willow Lane, Franklin Street Lane, Casablanca Drive, Weaver Road, Hubbard Road, Vine Street, Napier Avenue (connecting to Vine Street), Ell Street, Plant Street, Hunnicut Road, Lower Thomaston Road, Appling Court, Dennis Court, Kevin Drive, Old Clinton Road, Gwinnett Drive, Joe Tamplin Industrial Boulevard, College Street, Rutherford Avenue, Antioch Road, Antioch Place, Antioch Heights, Walmar Drive, Groveland Circle North, Groveland Circle South, the intersection of Log Cabin Drive and Napier Avenue, Arkwright Road (near River North), and a section of Fulton Mill Road.
The county partnered with C.W. Matthews, Mid-States Striping, Professional Paving Services, and Reeves Construction for various aspects of the initial work. Other roads that have received repaving, restriping, or patch work include Jeffersonville Road, Masseyville Road, Recreation Road, Riggins Mill Road, Rogers Road, Skipper Road, 7th Street, South Walden Road, Duffey Drive, Castlegate Road, Hillcrest Avenue, Masseyville Road, Rocky Creek Road, and Lawrence Drive South.
