Transportation Investment Act is Driving Progress in the River Valley Region and Georgia

COLUMBUS, GA — As elected officials across the nation struggle to secure funding for critical transportation infrastructure maintenance and improvements, communities in three of Georgia’s regions are reaping the benefits of the Transportation Investment Act (TIA), which voters passed through a referendum in July 2012. Citizens of these regions, including the River Valley, Heart of Georgia Altamaha, and Central Savannah River Area regions, are funding 871 transportation projects through a one-cent sales tax collected throughout 10 years. Georgia Department of Transportation is overseeing management of the budget, schedule, execution, and delivery of all TIA projects, in collaboration with local and state agencies.

“The three regions that approved the Transportation Investment Act are starting to see the results of their investments,” said State TIA Administrator Mike Dover. “By voting to tax themselves and working together to identify and prioritize projects, citizens and public officials in these regions are addressing a variety of local transportation issues, from road and bridge repair to expansion and enhancement of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. These transportation system improvements will benefit residents and visitors in these regions for many years to come.”

Collections of this one-cent sales tax began in January 2013 to fund projects in Band 1 (January 2013 – December 2015), which are scheduled to begin construction by the end of 2015. To date, more than $328 million has been collected of the budgeted $1.2 billion. This total includes $108.23 million collected of $380.83 million budgeted for 23 projects in the River Valley region.

Eight projects are underway for Band 1 in the River Valley region. Four of these projects are currently under construction, while the other four are in the pre-construction (design or bidding) phase. These projects include a variety of roadway and bridge improvements, as well as two projects to expand pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in South Columbus.