South Hall is getting closer to some much-needed traffic relief.

Hall County officials are finishing up designs on several improvement projects along Spout Springs Road, a main artery that frequently becomes congested, especially on school days and during rush hour.

Jody Woodall, Hall County road projects manager, said he expects the county will put the projects out for bid next month.

Later, “we’ll make some choices based on the budget we have and do the higher priority projects over the summer while school is out,” Woodall said.

The county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax will pay for the projects.

“I think what we’re going to do is focus on improvements around (schools on the road) and possibly Hog Mountain Road,” Woodall said. “If we can get those (done), I think it will help out a lot.”

The top priority is adding a traffic light at Elizabeth Lane.

“Once we do a study that warrants a signal, we really are bound to get it on a program to get it installed,” Woodall said.

The work also would involve some minor road realignment.

“Somewhat, as part of that, we’d be taking Piney Grove Church Road ... and bringing it a little closer to a 90-degree intersection,” Woodall said.

The county is looking at left-turn lanes into Ivy Springs subdivision, Capitola Farm Road, Spout Springs Elementary School and Union Circle.

“Probably, what we would look at, from Elizabeth Lane to Union Circle, if we do all of that project, we would end up with basically a three-lane section,” Woodall said.

Spout Springs Elementary and Flowery Branch High schools sit between Elizabeth Lane and Union Circle.

Steven McDaniel, principal at the elementary school, said he favors the turn lane.

“We think it would improve the safety on Spout Springs Road,” he said. “I have not seen the plans yet, so I really can’t comment further.”

County officials also are looking at adding a lane on Spout Springs just east of Hog Mountain Road.

That project would involve adding a new right-turn lane and converting the current right-turn lane into a through lane, Woodall said.
He estimated the projects to cost between $3 million and $4 million.

The work is regarded as short-term fixes, as county officials hope to eventually widen Spout Springs Road to four lanes. Hall County is working with Flowery Branch and Braselton to seek $79 million in federal stimulus money for the widening.

“Sometime (this month), we should hear whether (the project) was accepted or not,” Woodall said. “If (it’s not approved), we’re going to move ahead into the design phase.”

The county has talked with the Georgia Department of Transportation about putting the project onto its construction program.
Environmental work could take four to five years to complete.

“Maybe, by that time, there’ll be some funding identified to purchase some right of way and then, hopefully, we could move into construction soon after,” Woodall said, referring to plans in the absence of federal money.

In another area project, a county contractor has begun working on installing a traffic light on Phil Niekro Boulevard at Thurmon Tanner Parkway in Flowery Branch.

The contractor is “expecting, weather permitting, probably in the next two weeks, to have the signal in flash mode,” Woodall said. “By the end of the month, we should have an operational signal.”