With completion still six months away, a status report on the ongoing one-way pairs project was given to the McDonough City Council at its December 10 meeting.

Penelope Brooks, district communications officer with the Georgia Department of Transportation, announced that the project is still in Stage 1 but that stage is 80 percent complete, including all of the drainage, 85 percent of the roadway grading, 95 percent of the curb and gutter and 80 percent of the asphalt. Sidewalk work is ready to begin, she added.

About 80 percent of the utility work is completed, and crews are working with AT&T, the main utility to be relocated, to get that done.

Completion of the first stage of the project is dependent upon the railroad completing its crossing on Jonesboro Road, Brooks stated. When that happens, a three-day closure and detour will be enacted. Officials said that the closing will likely be around the clock but there will be a 14-day notice with posting of signage, and local EMS and other agencies will also be notified well in advance.

“We will alert all necessary parties when those details come together,” said Brooks.

As for the work taking place on the east side near the new schools, the final asphalt layer will likely be going down in late spring or early summer of 2019. Two traffic signals will need to be installed at Hwy. 155 and John Frank Ward Blvd., Brooks said, and those will be completed by June. The intersection can be opened once the asphalt topping is laid and the signals are operational.

Information was also shared regarding the roundabout on Jonesboro Road and the connection to Hampton Street. The paving is about to begin and the roundabout should be open in the spring, but since the DOT is still coordinating with the railroad on construction plans for its Jonesboro Road crossing and can’t shift traffic until that work is complete, officials can’t be more specific about the timeframe right now.

In other business, the council approved a highway commercial rezoning request for a 4.57-acre site on South Point Blvd. The property was previously zoned RTD (residential townhouse district). After the applicant addressed the council, the public hearing was open and no one spoke either for or against the proposal.

Also approved was a zoning modification request for a 30-foot sign variance to allow a 100-foot sign along the I-75 corridor for Hampton Inn and Tru by Hilton. There were no comments for or against the variance during the public hearing.

A public hearing regarding a 61-acre site on Lake Dow Road was postponed until the first quarter of 2019. The request is for annexation and rezoning for a single-family subdivision, and Mayor Billy Copeland stated that the applicant’s legal counsel had asked for the rescheduling.

A separate hearing on a proposed zoning modification for 12 acres on Decatur Road was also postponed until the first quarter of 2019 at the applicant’s request. That site already has a single-family residential zoning.

A rezoning request with variances for a townhome development at 235 Hampton Street was removed from the agenda and remanded to the Planning Commission for a recommendation in accordance with city codes as a result of indecision at the December 4 meeting.