The City Council of Milledgeville adopted a resolution this past Tuesday authorizing a contract for engineering services in connection with a proposed roundabout at the intersection of Log Cabin/Sinclair Dam roads and North Jefferson Street.
The contract that calls for Simonton Engineering to undertake a thorough study of the intersection and the roadways that approach it is the result of a joint meeting of council members and county commissioners April 30.
Simonton is already doing a similar study for the city on the intersection of Dunlap and North Jefferson Streets in anticipation of a possible roundabout there. A contract for that work was authorized in late February, and Paul Simonton told council members then that work should be complete in approximately 60 days.
Baldwin County Manager Carlos Tobar told commissioners and city council members at the April 30 meeting that County Engineer Brian Wood has developed a concept plan for a one-lane roundabout at the intersection. The possible project originated at a county planning retreat March 28, when Tobar told commissioners Wood had been asked to develop a concept plan. Tobar said then no right-of-way acquisition would be necessary for the roundabout.
The county manager said at the joint meeting that the estimated construction cost would be approximately $1 million, with 20% the responsibility of the local governments, $100,000 each.
Milledgeville City Manager Hank Griffeth said this week, prior to Tuesday night’s meeting, that the city has not discussed any cost figures or source of funds for the project thus far.
“The $100,000 has not been discussed by city council,” he emphasized. “I would not even bring it to them until we had some firm numbers, at least based on engineering.”
In his city manager’s report Tuesday night, Griffeth informed council members of an email he had received from Tobar further discussing the prospect of a joint project at Log Cabin/Sinclair Dam Road and North Jefferson; he then mentioned the possibility of constructing the two roundabouts at the same time.
“It could be, if things align correctly, that we might be able to – if you decide to do a roundabout at Dunlap and Jefferson – we could bid those two projects together,” he speculated, “and that would be helpful in that bidding process to get a good contractor to reduce a little bit of the cost.”
The city manager wanted to make clear that when he made statements at the April 20 meeting that city T-SPLOST funds were not to go for new construction, he was not talking for the mayor and city council.
“When we talked about a vote for a T-SPLOST referendum to go to the voters, we said the city would not use those funds for anything other than resurfacing of streets,” he said. “I said that at that meeting. I wanted to make sure you know I was not speaking for y’all. I was just saying that was the agreement when the IGA (intergovernmental agreement) was done for the referendum when it went before the voters, and I hope that’s the way we still feel.”
City Council member Steve Chambers said at the joint meeting he was in favor of moving forward on the project and reiterated that Monday, while in Florida for a family event. He stressed, however, no specific decisions have been made yet. He echoed Griffeth’s comments about not using T-SPLOST funds and referred to the lack of specifics at this time.
“No discussion has taken place, nor will it until an engineer’s report comes back,” he said. “(There are) too many unknowns – grant, cost, feasibility – to speculate overall support.”
Council member Walter Reynolds, however, was optimistic that the project could proceed.
“We do have some old SPLOST funds available that need to be expended,” he noted Monday afternoon. “There are no firm plans for a roundabout at Dunlap-N. Jefferson at the moment — just a traffic study to consider calming measures and safety enhancements. I expect that cost to be very modest…I expect the city will be in a place to participate in both.”
When the proposed contract came up as an action item later in the Tuesday evening meeting, it passed with no discussion at all, at a cost of $34,900, the same as the Dunlap-North Jefferson intersection study.