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Lee officials consider Westover extension

• Extending Westover Boulevard into Lee County would create a second north-south connector with Dougherty and ease traffic congestion, a government engineer says.

Susan McCord

ALBANY — A proposal to extend Westover Boulevard into Lee County to ease traffic congestion on Nottingham Way drew cheers – and questions – from Lee officials Wednesday.

Unveiled at an Albany City Commission meeting Tuesday, the proposal seeks to extend Westover north from the point it hooks around Albany Mall under Liberty Bypass to a new intersection on Ledo Road, which separates Lee and Dougherty counties.

The extension is the best remedy for heavy traffic congestion on both Ledo Road and Nottingham Way, where traffic counts easily reach 18,000 cars a day, Lee Director of Planning and Engineering Bob Alexander said.

It also would ease traffic on Slappey Boulevard, used by many to commute between the two counties, he said.

"When you look at Slappey Boulevard as your major north-south arterial, there need to be another north-south arterial going into Dougherty and Lee county," he said.

Alexander is very familiar with the issues because he served for years as Albany's city engineer. Less familiar Wednesday with the proposed extension and its accompanying request for funding from Lee County were two Lee County commissioners.

"Whatever Bob Alexander gave you is all we know," said Lee Commissioner Ed Duffy, whose Palmyra district would include the extension.

Lee just implemented a fifth special-purpose, local-option sales tax in September, and its one-percent sales tax collection could be used for road improvements, he said.

"It could not come out of the general fund, I'll tell you that," he said.

Lee Commission Chairman Morris Leverette said he's still waiting for more information about the proposed connector.

"As far as what they want to do, it would have to come before us," Leverette said. "We might work it out somehow."

Lee Economic Development Authority Executive Director Winston Oxford viewed the project with enthusiasm.

"I can't help but think it would do nothing but improve the shopping conditions, making it easier for shoppers on both sides of the county line," Oxford said.

Consumers who want to shop at locations in both Dougherty and Lee counties, he said currently may spend 15-20 minutes in traffic just crossing Liberty Bypass on Nottingham, he said.

"It will complement the commercial economies in Dougherty and Lee; people can flip-flop back and forth," Oxford said.

"Once we know for sure where that bypass will land on Ledo, that would open up more dirt for commercial development in there," he said.

The project would likely be presented during the May 22 meeting of the Dougherty Area Regional Transportation Study, or DARTS, committee, Lee County administrator Alan Ours said.

"At that point we bring the information back to the Lee County Board of Commissioners," Ours said.

"Right now it's just in the initial phases. It's not that we're in the dark, but we're in a process that we follow.

"Lee County is very supportive of finding solutions to ease (the traffic) problem," he said.

From concept to the start of construction, a project such as the extension would typically take five years, according to David Hamilton, transportation planner with the City of Albany.

But since the area already is "disturbed" by existing roadways and right-of-way acquisitions are minimal, the process, which will include public hearings, could be shortened by three to four years, Hamilton said.

"We're not as concerned about the money as we are about getting the public involved in the process," he said.

The cost, estimated in "today's dollars" of $9.7 million would likely increase by the time construction begins, he said.

Once the process gets under way, the Federal Highway Administration will typically contribute 80 percent of the cost, which the Georgia Department of Transportation, if it participates, would match with 10 percent. Local governments would provide the remaining, he said.

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