Georgia awarded some $78 million in road widening and resurfacing projects in December, mostly using federal stimulus money, transportation officials said Monday.

About $11 million will be spent on projects in the state Department of Transportation’s 21-county District 1, which is based in Gainesville.

Nearly $3 million will be spent in the surrounding counties of Forsyth, Habersham, Jackson, Lumpkin and White.

The state Department of Transportation now has awarded more than 200 stimulus projects valued at nearly $600 million.

"These projects improve connectivity for residents, improve safety and promote economic development in communities hard hit by the economy," DOT Commissioner Vance C. Smith Jr. said.

The District 1 projects focus entirely on resurfacing of local roads and have varying completion dates this year.

The "work will likely start in the spring when temperatures warm up," said the district’s spokeswoman, Teri Pope.

The DOT also has awarded a $400,000 project repairing a stretch of road in Stephens County that was damaged in the September floods, Pope said.

That work, which includes slope stabilization, grading and drainage improvements, is expected to be finished in March, she added.

About $4.5 million in federal stimulus money is being or has been spent to resurface or do other work on three major roads in Hall County: Mount Vernon Road from Thompson Bridge Road to Dahlonega Highway, U.S. 129 from Gillsville Highway to Monroe Drive and Ga. 365 from Ga. 369/Jesse Jewell Parkway to Ga. 52/Lula Road.