Henry County commissioners awarded the design bid on Tuesday for a future roundabout at state route 20 and Turner Church Road in McDonough. The contract was awarded to Kimley-Horn of Atlanta, GA.
Eleven companies responded to the request for proposals (RFP). Kimley-Horn was the highest-scoring proposal and provided a design fee for $177,785.89.
The design contract will be funded through SPLOST IV, approved by voters in November 2013. Turner Church Road is an approved SPLOST IV district III project that paved the roadway from SR 155 to SR 20 in 2018.
A SPLOST budget amendment was necessary to fund the contract. Commissioners approved the transfer of $101,775.00 from the completed district III bridge project Jackson Lake over Mackey Creek.
Roundabout selected in response to traffic accidents
In the SPLOST IV project to pave Turner Church Road, the intersection with state route 20 was realigned. Since then, vehicle traffic on Turner Church Road has significantly increased leading Georgia DOT to install a four-way stop at the intersection in December 2019.
A temporary traffic signal will be installed either later this month or in early March by GDOT. The four-way stop was an immediate interim response following eight accidents between July 25 and October 22 of last year.
The roundabout was selected by Georgia DOT in lieu of a traffic signal as the long-term solution because of their proven effectiveness at slowing vehicle travel speeds and reducing vehicle accidents and their severity. The final design is expected to include dedicated right-hand turn lanes along state route 20 like the dedicated lane at SR 20 and East Lake Road.
