Long-awaited bypass will be done this year, Monroe mayor says

$40 million project is set for completion in the fall of this year

The long-awaited downtown Monroe bypass is on schedule for opening later this year, Mayor John Howard said recently, pegging September as the month in which the road will open to traffic.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) is, officially, a bit less optimistic, currently listing October as the completion date, according to the agency’s website. The project is currently listed by the DOT as nearly 64% complete. Whatever the final completion date may be, Howard vowed that the project “will be done in 2025.”

The DOT issued the contract for the work in late 2022 to locally based contractor ER Snell, which got high praise from Howard for what he called “an outstanding job” as the work moves toward its end.

Mayor John Howard photo credit: Darrell Everidge

The 4.7-mile bypass will extend from Unisia Drive, just beyond its intersection with U.S. Highway 78 east of Monroe, to join South Broad Street/Georgia Highway 11 outside the southern limits of downtown Monroe. One current issue with the work, according to the mayor, is dealing with utilities infrastructure at Unisia Drive.

According to a DOT data sheet on the project, its cost is estimated at more than $40 million, including right-of-way purchases and engineering expenses.

An upcoming priority for the local road network will be a northern leg of the bypass, and Howard said he and Walton County Commission Chairman David Thompson will be meeting with the GDOT in March in hopes of getting that project started.

“I promise you, that northern leg will not take me 36 years to get done,” Howard said, referring to the time it has taken to get the southern end of the bypass from idea to reality.

Talk of a Monroe bypass began in the late 1980s when, as the mayor noted, he was a senior at George Walton Academy. Construction of the bypass was green-lighted just two years ago by the Georgia DOT. Completion of the bypass will significantly cut the amount of tractor-trailer traffic moving through downtown Monroe, according to the mayor, who said the area currently sees 2,000 trucks passing through during a typical 24-hour period.

In addition to presenting a potential safety hazard to unsuspecting pedestrians in the downtown area, the trucks also damage the roads, particularly at the intersection of Spring and Broad streets, which currently need repairs every few months, according to Howard.

Now in his second term as mayor, Howard said completion of the bypass “has been urgent for me from day one.” As he has frequently noted, Howard once again said in a recent interview that he worries constantly about a child running out in front of a truck in downtown Monroe, which has transformed in recent years into a site for community events and significant commercial activity.

The bypass will make the downtown area quieter and safer, the mayor contended, boosting ongoing prospects for the area. Howard attributed the long timeframe for bringing the bypass to reality to a couple of factors, particularly noting the changes in DOT leadership and local leadership over the years.

“I think to some, it meant more than others,” Howard said, referencing local enthusiasm, or lack thereof, for the project. Howard also suggested that keeping in touch with the DOT is critical for getting road projects done in a community.

“If nobody’s there to ask them (the DOT) for it, they’re not going to go out of their way to give it to you,” he said. “When folks feel your passion about your city, or in this case, city and county, they want to work with you,” Howard added.

The mayor also noted the statewide needs for road projects, adding that the city and county are “lucky they’re (DOT) focused on us now.”