MOULTRIE — The Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority wants to revive a Ga. Highway 133 committee to help ensure the road-widening project does not slip off the state’s radar.
The project that would four-lane the road from Albany to Valdosta has been put on hold by the Georgia Department of Transportation, as have thousands of other projects across the state.
On Wednesday, Department of Transportation board member Johnny Floyd told authority members that projects could be on hold for some time. It could take the department eight to 10 months to work through a process of identifying revenue streams and prioritizing projects.
Floyd, a Crisp County resident elected in February, replaced Billy Langdale of Valdosta, who did not seek re-election after 20 years on the board. Floyd said that no evidence of wrongdoing has surfaced in relation to the money.
On April 9, Gov. Sonny Perdue requested a forensic audit of the transportation department after reports of financial mismanagement surfaced.
That came after transportation Commissioner Gena Abraham warned that the agency is over-committed to projects that it cannot fund, possibly amounting to as much as $1 billion.
“That was disappointing,” authority Chairman Jim Ward said after hearing Floyd’s assessment that projects will be delayed for an extended period.
He suggested that the committee pushing for the Hwy. 133 project be resurrected to keep the Southwest Georgia project in front of officials in Atlanta.
“I would encourage you to put that group back together or else that money is going to go north,” he said. “With what’s going on with Atlanta, they’re really going to start sucking up all the funds.”
Darrell Moore, Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber president, said in an interview after the meeting that getting the Hwy. 133 committee back in action should not be a problem.
At one time the group, which included representatives from Brooks, Colquitt, Dougherty, Lowndes and Worth counties met regularly, but it has been inactive for two or three years, Moore said.
“We had an active group at one time,” he said. “We just need to get the right people who can help and contribute. I’ll probably go back and look at the list.”
Moore said that completion of the four-lane project is important to Southwest Georgia as a whole, not just the communities the highway passes through.
“You’re tying two (metropolitan statistical areas) together, you’re tying a lot of people together,” he said. “We need to keep moving and make sure they don’t forget about us.”
The projected cost of the four-lane project is $240 million, not including any remaining design and right-of-way acquisition costs.
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