Over 130 miles of county roads to be restriped

Just over 136 miles of county roads will soon be re-striped to make county roads safer for motorists traveling at night and in rain.
The county, earlier this year, was awarded a Safety Action Plan grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation totaling $180,000.
Bids were solicited and two bidders submitted proposals to stripe 65.6 miles: Peek Pavement Marking LLC – $131,985 and Gaines and Sons Striping – $70,860.80.
After the bids came in at that level, Chairman Charles Norton instructed county administrator Carlos Tobar to add additional roads to the project.
Tobar reported last week the new bid is $145,239.80 from Gaines to cover 136.1 miles. The county will use $101,667.86 of the $180,000 grant and will use $43,571.94 in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax proceeds for the 30 percent match.
Tobar told commissioners he is also investigating other projects for use of the remaining grant money.
“How long will it take them to complete?” Commission Vice Chairman Elwyn Childs asked during last Tuesday’s commission meeting.
According to Tobar, he plans to issue the notice to proceed immediately, but he said the work would not likely be completed until the early portion of 2017.
Commissioner Ray Prince asked if any necessary repair work would be done on the roads before the striping takes place, and Tobar said the county did not have the funds to do all the work that would be necessary.
“We are looking at using liquid rubber to repair some cracks to buy us time,” Tobar said.
Commissioner T.D. David asked if Tobar had explained to the members of the board why Gaines’ bid was 54 percent lower than the proposal submitted by Peek Pavement Marking. According to Tobar, Gaines is a small contractor with less overhead. “He does the work himself,” Tobar said.
The county administrator told commissioners he had inspected some of Gaines’ work in Tallahassee and noted that Gaines is a subcontractor for the Florida Department of Transportation.
“I hope he does good work,” Chairman Norton commented.
Roads to be striped include Tired Creek Road, Midway Road, Meridian Road, Lower Hawthorne Trail, Ridge Road, Pine Level Road, Pierce Chapel Road, Woodland Road, Collins Road, Old 84, Trinity Road, Sofkee Road, Pine Park Road, Spring Hill Road, Sherman Road, Bold Springs Road, Faircloth Road, Airport Road, Gainey Road, Lewis Road, Ponder Road, Gainous Road, Horton Road, West Road, Clarence Road, Union Springs Road, Drew Road, Hudson Road, Peebles Still Road, Beck Branch Road, Thomas Road, Concord Road, Dorsey Road, McRayville Road, Peidmont Road, Swamp Creek Road, Boyette Road and Wilcox Road.