Why is there a detour on the bridge on 13th Avenue? Curious Columbus has an answer.

Construction projects can cause headaches for drivers who either sit in traffic or have to find alternative routes to get where they need to go.

In this week’s Curious Columbus, reader Sandra Thomas wanted to know more about why the bridge at the intersection of 13th Avenue and Warren Williams Road has been inaccessible.

“It’s been torn up and seemingly repaired except for the top pavement for months, years?,” Thomas wrote. “And now it’s being dug up again.”

This detour has made coming and going downtown more difficult, she said.

This construction, which began in October 2022, is part of a project by the Georgia Department of Transportation to remove and replace culverts on the bridge over Weracoba Creek, district communications officer Gina Snider told the Ledger-Enquirer.

“We are currently in the process of constructing the new culvert,” she said. “Pending no further delays, it is slated to be complete by summer of 2024.”

The structure was built in 1925 and consists of three square reinforced concrete barrels, according to a 2018 GDOT concept report. The culverts, 92-years-old at the time, were recommended to be replaced because of their age and structural integrity.

GDOT estimates the cost of the project in 2022 under $3.5 million.

Anyone curious about transportation projects can use a tool called Geopi to learn more, Snider said. The tool has all the projects GDOT is currently working on around the state.

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