Several traffic projects planned for Monroe including traffic light at Hwy 78/11 intersection

City to take over Broad and Spring streets from state and 3-way stop at McDaniel and Woodland

At last week’s Monroe City Council meeting, City Administrator Logan Propes updated the council on traffic adjustments currently under way for the city. He advised the council that the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has approved the installation of a traffic light at the intersection of Georgia Highway 11 (North Broad Street) and U.S. Highway 78/Georgia Highway 10, which has long been a headache for motorists, particularly during heavily traveled hours.

There is currently no timeline for installation of the traffic light, but Propes told the council he expects the project will move forward quickly.

In other traffic-related business, the council unanimously approved a resolution calling for GDOT to take North Broad Street and South Broad Street, the city’s main north-south traffic artery, also known as Georgia Highway 11, out of the state highway system, effectively turning them over to the city.

The resolution makes the same request for East Spring Street and West Spring Street, the city’s main east-west route, also known as Georgia Highway 10 Business and U.S. Highway 78 Business, again effectively turning the roads over to the city.

If the resolution — which notes the city’s substantial investment in streetscape improvements, downtown revitalization and other work on what are essentially local streets within the city limits — is accepted by GDOT, Spring Street and Broad Street would be under municipal ownership and control, with the city assuming maintenance responsibilities except for traffic signals, which would be under state control as local components of two longer state routes.

Prior to any transfer, under terms of the resolution approved Tuesday by the council, GDOT and the city will assess the roadways’ condition, with any deficiencies being corrected prior to the transfer.

Propes acknowledged to the council that transferring maintenance responsibilities for the two roads exclusively to the city “is a tall ask for our Streets Department,” but added that with the transfer “all in all, we will control our destiny in Monroe.”

Propes has been working with GDOT for months on plans for transferring Spring and Broad streets to local control, but as with traffic signal at Highways 11 and 78, it’s not clear when a transfer might be accomplished.

“We know this may go back and forth for several months,” Propes told the council.

In one other traffic-related development, the Monroe City Council unanimously approved a plan to establish a three-way stop at the intersection of Woodland Road and McDaniel Street, along with marked crosswalks, to replace the traffic signal currently at the intersection.

The council was told that the signal now at the intersection is outdated and has become unreliable, with replacement parts difficult to find. The council was also told that just a new control panel for the signal would cost $60,000.