Dunbar Creek Bridge on BATS agenda
Jun. 12—A meeting of the Brunswick Area Transportation Study (BATS) on Monday will include funding for a new Dunbar Creek Bridge on St. Simons Island and transportation improvement programs.
The bridge on Sea Island Road was built in 1960 and is considered to be below current Georgia Department of Transportation design standards.
Plans are for the new bridge to be constructed in the same location along the existing alignment with an on-site detour. It will be built with a minimum width exceeding requirements, a greater load capacity and with modern materials.
The estimated cost, including preliminary engineering, right of way and construction, is more than $5 million.
If the project is not done, the condition of the bridge will continue to deteriorate. It will continue to function at a substandard load carrying capacity and could eventually lead to posted maximum loads until it is ultimately closed for repairs, according to DOT officials.
A new 360-foot by 50.83-foot concrete bridge would be 1 foot higher than the existing bridge to meet the 100-year flood elevation.
It would include a 16-foot shoulder on the south side to accommodate a shared use path.
Committee members will also discuss a transportation improvement program, a metropolitan transportation plan and agency updates by the county airport commission, school board, county, city of Brunswick, Georgia DOT District 5, Jekyll Island Authority and transit agencies.
The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. today in the second-floor meeting room at the Harold Pate Building, 1725 Reynolds St. in Brunswick.
