The Georgia Department of Transportation has canceled a public information open house set for 5-7 tonight to discuss the proposed detour in a Banks County bridge replacement project.

"We are concerned about the safety of people attending the meeting," DOT District Engineer Bayne Smith said. "... I hope this doesn’t inconvenience anyone but we decided to err on the side of caution."

The meeting will be rescheduled, he added.

The project involves a new Ga. 63 bridge over the Broad River’s Middle Fork, 9-10 miles northeast of Homer.

The existing bridge was built in 1962 and does not meet current design standards. It is 304 feet long, 29 feet wide and does not have shoulders.

The new bridge will be 250 feet long and 40 feet wide, featuring 12-foot lanes and 8-foot shoulders.

The detour calls for passenger vehicle traffic west of the bridge to use the 5.9-mile signed detour route starting northbound on Ga. 63, then head west onto Wells Road and north onto Boling Road. Then, traffic will turn east on Damascus Road to Ga. 63.

Passenger vehicle traffic east of the bridge will have a 5-mile signed detour route beginning north on Ga. 63, then it will travel east onto Banks Academy Road and north to County Road 88/Prospect/Plainview Road. Then, traffic will be routed west onto Ga. 83 and back to Ga. 63.

Truck traffic will have different signed detour routes to ensure tractor-trailers do not use bridges with posted weight limits, creating a safety hazard.