DOT opens Joyner Road and new bridge

Officials with the Georgia Department of Transportation announced Friday afternoon that Joyner Road and the new bridge over Little Tired Creek is now officially open.  Today’s opening is exactly a week later than previously announced by the state.
Last week state officials said the bridge would reopen on Friday, August 7, but had to push that back to Monday, August 10. Originally, the projected completion date of the new bridge was not until Oct. 31.
The new bridge, which has been closed since January, is wider and longer to accommodate the growing amount of truck traffic on the road, which has become a major truck route serving Milestone Industrial Park and its largest tenant, Performance Food Group-Powell.
Craig Solomon, with DOT’s Tifton office, said that the guardrail contractor could not complete the necessary work to open the bridge Friday as previously reported.
DOT officials said late last year the cost of the bridge replacement was $1,986,606.45 and the project was awarded to the Jim Boyd Construction Company of Albany.