Currently, if every vehicle rolling on I-16 between Georgia Highway 67 and Interstate 95 on an average day had just one person in it, those drivers would outnumber the population of Statesboro (July 2024 estimate 35,226). Hyundai Motor Group’s Metaplant and suppliers are contributing more trucks and commuters, and with population growth, the daily traffic count is projected to range from 52,000 to 99,000 vehicles by 2050.

So, the state has a plan to widen I-16 to six lanes – three in each direction – over the 32.5-mile stretch. This will also require widening or replacing 20 bridges, one in each direction of travel at 10 locations. Annually budgeted funding so far included $35 million for preliminary engineering through state fiscal years 2024 and 2025. A Georgia Department of Transportation webpage identifying this as a “design-build” project cites a construction cost estimate of $511.8 million, plus $4 million for utility line relocation and – in case it is needed – $6 million for right of way acquisition. A report there shows construction funding approved for fiscal year 2026.

Now the GDOT has two Public Information Open House events scheduled for people in the project area – Bulloch, Bryan, Chatham and Effingham counties – to see the conceptual designs outlined on maps and get summaries of the latest project information. With project team members in attendance, the public is invited to “ask questions of designated subject matter experts,” but “there will be no formal presentation” according to the GDOT media release on these events.

So, people can drop in later than the opening time and still get some information. They can also leave a written comment or speak to a court reporter at the events. The first Public Information Open House will be held 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, June 11 in the Bulloch County Center for Agriculture building, 151 Langston Chapel Rd., Statesboro. The second will be held 4-6 p.m. Thursday, June 12 at Bloomingdale City Hall, 8 West U.S. Highway 80, Bloomingdale.

The Georgia DOT will continue accepting public comments on the project now through June 26, and also has an online survey available.

All of the printed materials from the open houses will also be available on the project website, at https://i16-widening-0020168-gdot.hub.arcgis.com/.

Rising traffic counts

The project summary prepared for the open house events notes that Interstate 16 is a component of the Strategic Highway Network and a hurricane evacuation route, as well as “a key freight corridor linking the Port of Savannah to the interstate highway system.”

“Numerous existing and proposed manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution center developments are located adjacent to I-16 between (State Route) 67 and I-95, contributing to increased travel demand along the corridor,” the summary states. “Existing traffic volumes range from 31,000 to 50,000 and are expected to increase to approximately 52,000 to 99,000 under no-build conditions by 2050.”

“No-build conditions” means if no changes were made, maintaining this section of interstate highway at two traffic lanes in each direction. But the traffic volume to capacity ratio is already at a level where “traffic flow many become unstable resulting in delay,” according to the GDOT’s observations.

The summary of project benefits predicts that the widening to six lanes will improve but not cure this situation, with some delays remaining likely as the traffic increases toward 2050.  “However, the addition of a traffic lane in each direction would serve induced and latent demand by increasing vehicle throughput by up to 34%,” it states.

The current conditions summary states that the existing highway “is also experiencing deteriorating pavement conditions that require frequent slab replacement.”

Crash rates are described as only “at or above Georgia’s average” in some areas of the highway section.

No land needed?

The highway will be widened by adding another 12-foot travel lane in each direction. Existing lanes “will be realigned towards the median” and the additional lane built “in the median area,” according to the list of proposed improvements. These also include improving “existing substandard pavement,” and widening or replacing those 20 bridges.

“Acquisition of additional right of way … is not anticipated,” the list states. According to the more detailed “current conditions” summary, the median separating the opposing travel lanes varies from 64 to 480 feet wide. The right of way, including the entire highway and state-owned land on either side, varies from approximately 250 feet in width to 1,800 feet.

If a major project can be done without having to acquire more land for right of way, this can speed up the process by years as well as reducing cost, the Bulloch County government’s interim county engineer, Ron Nelson, told the Statesboro Herald.  He previously worked for the Georgia DOT for 28 years.

“Right of way is a major risk whenever you go into any type of roadway expansion or roadway construction project,” Nelson said. “You want to do everything you can to minimize risk, and by maximizing the use of the right of way you have, that eliminates one of the hurdles you have to jump over to qualify a project for construction, so once you’ve got that taken care of, things can move along much quicker in your scheduled delivery.”

The design-build approach is also intended to speed a project toward construction and completion.

The Georgia DOT’s now publicized timeline for the project shows that the environmental study process began in 2024, that June 2025 is time for the open house events and that the environmental process should conclude in May 2026. According to the timeline, GDOT officials expect to select a “project developer” in second-quarter 2026, for construction to start in 2027.

But the Herald, as of Friday, had found no prediction of how long the massive highway and bridge reconstruction will take to complete.

‘Freight route’ funding

District 160 State Rep. Lehman Franklin, R-Statesboro and Stilson, noted in a phone interview that the Legislature and governor approved $1.5 billion in the fiscal 2024 budget for improvements to “freight routes” throughout Georgia. A portion was for expansion of I-16 nearer Savannah. Then $500 million more for “freight routes” was included in the fiscal 2025 budget (to June 30), with a portion of that money going toward the I-16 expansion from I-95 at least to U.S. Highway 280, nearest Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant Plant America and the surrounding Mega Site, he said.

“I’ve been trying to push this, along with a lot of other people. Our whole delegation’s been getting on this to get it done and put the money in the budget for a while,” Franklin said. “I just came from Savannah today … and it’s definitely needed. There’s just so much more traffic. So I’m happy to see this go forward.”

But Franklin said he wasn’t aware of any construction funding in the pipeline for the section between U.S. 280 and Georgia 67.

“There are a lot of people pushing for that and a lot of people hoping for that, and I’m obviously one of them,” Franklin said. “I want it to go all the way to 301.  But the current money that we have in the budget does not fund it past the Metaplant,” he said.

About 11 miles long, the section of I-16 between Georgia Highway 67 and U.S. Highway 301 is not included in the proposed project plans now headed to the Public Info Open House events. But some new industries that are Hyundai suppliers are located along U.S. 301 just north and south of the I-16 interchange, contributing to the truck and employee commuter traffic.