County to work on $2.7 million road project

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
The Franklin County Commission passed two-year. $2.7 million road project Friday.
The project will encompass more than 14 miles of road and is expected to be completed in two years.
The work will consist mainly along areas of Franklin 58, which has not had major work in many years, officials said, and along Franklin 48, which is one of the busiest roads in the county.
Franklin County engineer David Palmer said that traffic count studies show more than 2,200 motorists travel Franklin 48 each day.
"That's a lot of traffic for a county road," Palmer told commissioners.
The bulk of the project will be funded by federal aid money. The county's portion will be paid with local gas tax funds.
The county's portion is expected to be less than $200,000.
Commissioner Howard Hutcheson expressed concern about spending so much money on Franklin 48, which is in fairly good shape.
Palmer, however, pointed out the high volume of traffic along that road could cause problems in the future and costs to repair it without federal funding available would be devastating.
"When you talk about spending federal aid money you have to look at the entire package," he said.