Could Stimulus Bucks Go For Augusta Bridges?

Augusta, GA—Drivers have been known to cross it with caution. It is the bridge on Windsor Spring Road, over Spirit Creek. It’s one of Augusta’s lowest-rated bridges, scoring only a 29 on a 100 point scale.

“A lot of people drive over that bridge a lot of buses there’s a lot of schools over there they need to fix it before something happens, I go across it every day,” says Varnetta Smith, of Hephzibah.

Like most cities, Augusta has bridge troubles, 14 city spans are rated as deficient, by the state.

“We’ve got several more we need to look at. we are focusing on infrastructure and bridges are big part of that we’ve got some that are old we’ve got some that need maintenance we’ve got some that need replacement as we go forward with that,” says City Administrator Fred Russell.

Commissioners are looking at putting about $6 million into the next sales tax, for bridge work, but the Engineering Department says that leaves millions of dollars in bridge needs unfunded. So, that has Augusta eyeing the now possible dollars coming from Washington, but city leaders feel they don’t want to cross that bridge until it’s time.

“Until they get the bill passed, and set up the rules we really don’t know and there’s no need to get too excited yet but we are getting ready we are putting plans together we want to make sure when they do know the rules, when they get the funding mechanism straight, we’re ready to roll,” said Russell.

In all the city has identified more than $400 million in needs that leaders feel could be eligible for stimulus money.