Through-traffic that would ordinarily follow the western portion of the U.S. Highways 301 and 25 Bypass – also known as Veterans Memorial Parkway – between U.S. 301 South and U.S. Highway 80 West of Statesboro will be detoured through the middle of town from 7 a.m. Monday, Dec. 4, until 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced.
The reason for the detour is that Patriot Rail Company, new owner of the short-line Georgia Southern Railroad, will be making improvements to the rail crossing between J.C. Lewis Ford and Jimmy Britt Chrysler on the bypass just west of U.S. 301 South. The detour could end sooner if the work is completed ahead of schedule or could last longer if there is a weather delay, the Georgia DOT’s press release stated.
The railroad crossing itself will be closed completely to all four lanes of traffic while the work is done. However, a bold-letter note in the Georgia DOT’s letter of responsibility to the railroad company and Statesboro city officials emphasized that the bypass “will remain open to local traffic up to the work zone.” This will allow access to businesses, schools and homes.
“Here’s the thing. We have to keep our detours on state routes, but locals know how to get around,” Jill Nagel, District 5 communications officer for the GDOT, told the Statesboro Herald. “They can pick their own route. … So, if somebody is not going the full length of the bypass on the west side, then they can find their way around it, because (the closure) is just right there at the railroad tracks.”
The official detour
Officially, the detour, following state and federal routes as required, extends 5.1 miles and affects through-traffic in both directions. Traffic following detour signs from U.S. 301 on the south side of town or reaching the main highway there from the eastern loop of the bypass will instead travel north on 301 where it becomes Statesboro’s South Main and North Main Streets for three miles and turn left at the traffic light onto U.S. Highway 80/25 (Northside Drive West).
Conversely, traffic traveling east on U.S. 80/25 from the direction of Portal and Millen will simply avoid the bypass entrance, continue for 2.1 miles into Statesboro and turn right at the traffic light onto 301 South.
Other roads open
But all intersections along the western bypass, such as at Cypress Lake Road, Country Club Road, Pulaski Road and Westside Road, will remain open.
Drivers who would ordinarily use the western bypass to reach Bulloch Academy or businesses such as the Chrysler dealership from 301 South will need to find a different route, local officials acknowledged.
So too will drivers who would ordinarily continue from the western segment of the Veterans Memorial Parkway across 301 South onto the eastern loop on their way to destinations such as the Publix shopping center, parts of the Georgia Southern campus, or East Georgia Regional Medical Center. But the heavily trafficked eastern loop itself will not be affected.
Patriot Rail’s project
Patriot Rail purchased the Georgia Southern Railroad from previous owner Pioneer Lines within the past year. An assessment was done of the railroad’s properties and crossings, and this one showed up as needing maintenance, said Katie Roller, director of public affairs for Patriot Rail’s Georgia Southern Railroad.
The company coordinated with the GDOT for permission to close the crossing and arranged a detour while the work is done, she said. But the railroad company, not the GDOT, is paying for the maintenance work.
“That will actually be a concrete-top crossing when it’s all done, which is the preferred material for that type of roadway and the traffic that utilizes that crossing,” Roller said. “So I think it will be a nice, smooth ride for those that utilize it.”
Statesboro’s city government does not have a direct role in the project. But the city’s Public Works and Engineering Director John Washington received a letter emailed Nov. 28 from Derek Metts, public projects engineer for Patriot Rail Company, providing a map of the detour route and seeking the city’s cooperation to inform the public
City officials have reasons to want to see this work done, Washington indicated in a phone interview.
“The railroad crossing there, people have been complaining about it; they’ve been calling Public Works, calling City Hall, emailing people who they have direct contact with and asking when is this railroad crossing going to be repaired where it’s not going to be so rough,” he said. “And this has been going on for, I don’t know how long.”
The Statesboro Police Department has no planned role in redirecting traffic, but placed a notice on its social media pages advising people to “plan ahead and use alternative routes.”
Crews from the GDOT itself will be responsible for setting up the signs for the detour and the closing of the railroad crossing, according to Nagel.
“Everything will be signed,” she said. “They’ll have advanced warning signs that a detour is coming up, they’ll have directional signs, message boards. So folks will know before they get up on it, especially at that 301 intersection there. It will have ‘Road Closed,’ so people know they’ll have to turn around.”