The Sardis Road Connector picked up a little steam last week, but the long-awaited road project is still about five years from starting.
The Hall County Board of Commissioners approved a contract extension to finish design work.
"We've been working on it for a while, but we got to a point where we (spent) all the contract funds and we still had a little bit of work to do," said Jody Woodall, civil engineer with Hall County.
The county approved spending $1.9 million, with funding from the special purpose local option sales tax. The money also would cover expenses associated with preparing for right-of-way acquisition.
"We're still trying to continue on the same schedule," Woodall said.
Federal and state environmental approval of the project is expected later, with right-of-way purchases starting in 2014 and construction in 2017.
The road would connect two major arteries, Ga. 53/Dawsonville Highway and Ga. 60/Thompson Bridge Road in northwest Hall.
Construction would run between Chestatee Road, where a short stretch of four-lane is already in place, to Dawsonville Highway, and the intersection of Mount Vernon and Thompson Bridge roads.
Right-of-way acquisition is projected to cost $24 million. Construction is expected to run about $46.3 million.
The right-of-way and construction schedules "are contingent on the state identifying the funding," Woodall said. "Right now, funding is (considered) long-range."
Hall County has identified the project as one of nine it would build if the 1 percent transportation sales tax vote passes July 31.
The referendum will be voted on statewide but approved or turned down in 12 designated regions. Hall is one of 13 counties in the Georgia Mountains region. The region would receive $1.2 billion over the 10-year life of the tax, with Hall County receiving nearly $300 million.
Srikanth Yamala, transportation planning manager with the Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization, has said that projects such as Sardis, which is also included in the county's 2040 transportation plan, could speed up if the sales tax vote passes.
That's the case with Sardis, but not by much. If the tax passes, projects would fall in one of three "bands," or time periods: 2013-15, 2016-19 or 2020-22. Sardis is targeted for the 2016-19 band.
The Sardis project has been in discussion for many years, particularly as officials saw a need to develop a four-lane connection between the two major roadways. The project's design began in late 2006, according to an executive summary of the funding request by public works director Ken Rearden.
The project was stalled in 2009 because of budget shortfalls within the Georgia Department of Transportation and larger than expected right-of-way estimates.
SPLOST VI, approved by voters in March 2009, contained funding for the Sardis project.