Georgia D.O.T. Awards $400,000 To Improve Road and Sidewalks Near Main Entrance of Medical Center

If walking across, or driving down Pine Street in front of the main entrance to the Medical Center gives you a headache, the passageway is about to get a little bit less stressful.

G.D.O.T. and Macon mayor Robert Reichert announced today that $400,000 has been allocated to fund the second phase of the project.

The money will be spent to improve sidewalks and crosswalks, as well as make improvements to the flow of traffic. The parking lot on the corner of Pine Street and New Street, will be taken out to allow easier traffic passage.

A new loading/unloading zone will also be put in closer to the building, getting rid of the current zone which is in the middle of the road.

But the plan is doing more than just improve the flow and safety of the street. It will also improve the look of the street, with trees and greenery.

CEO of Adminstration at the Medical Center Don Faulk says, the changes need to be made, to ensure people who come here from across the state, have easy and safe access to the front door of the hospital.

“Crossing 60 feet of concrete, very busily traveled concrete, is a very dangerous situation. We want to make sure we have as safe a situation, and one that is presentable from the communities perspective,” Faulk says.

The Medical Center matched 20% of the $400,000 grant to help move this project forward.

The plan is now to finalize all the paper work for the project, and then begin the bidding process for contractors. Once a contractor is found, GDOT says the project should begin about six months after that. An exact date for beginning construction is not set, but GDOT estimated it should be sometime in the spring of 2012.