Commissioners OK road-paving project

Making King Taylor Road a cut-through for residents in the Oakbrook subdivision would end up costing Columbia County about $400,000.

Instead, a gate at the end of the road will stayput, while county officials look for other ways to alleviate traffic tie-ups in Oakbrook.

"They need an outlet, but it is not going to be King Taylor," Columbia County Commissioner Diane Ford said.

Commissioners last week agreed to spend approximately $147,000 to pave the dirt road that runs off Evans to Locks Road near Jones Creek. That amount would make the road 23 feet wide on 30 feet of right of way.

To connect the road to the back of Oakbrook would require the county to redirect part of the road, take 50 feet of right of way and possibly purchase one home and one entire parcel to make way for the paved road.

That adds a lot of expense, county Preconstruction Engineer Ronnie Hutto said.

"It's do-able, if you want to spend the money," he said.

But it'll be about more than money. If commissioners chose to make the wider road, Hutto encouraged them to start gathering right of way. After all, he said, the resident of King Taylor Road - who gave their land to the county as right of way - agreed to the smaller road.

"They gave the property with the understanding that it would be 23 feet wide and not be a cut-through," he said.

The paving also eliminates a headache for the county's dirt road maintenance crews, who have to bring heavy equipment to the western side of the county just to scrape King Taylor Road.

"It is a maintenance nightmare for Roads and Bridges," Ford said.