Local and state officials aren’t messing around when it comes to putting in new infrastructure around the Bryan County Mega-Site.
A new interchange at I-16, Old Cuyler Road and a new Cuyler Road extension in Bryan County is among a number of road projects on tap near the Mega-Site, according to Georgia Department of Transportation records that show preliminary engineering will start next year and construction work could begin as early as 2025.
The new interchange is expected to cost more than $150 million, according to GDOT estimates.
Of that amount, $91.9 million is for construction, $43.2 million for acquiring right of way and another $8 million for engineering costs.
Since I-16 is a federal highway, it’s not immediately clear how much funding for the project will come from federal sources. As part of an effort to attract Hyundai Motor Group and more than $6 billion in investment to the site, state officials agreed in May that GDOT will fund some $200 million in road improvements near the nearly 3,000-acre Mega-Site.
Work on the new interchange will follow construction of a frontage road from Highway 280 near the Mega-Site to the Cuyler Road Extension, according to GDOT. It will cost an estimated $51 million, with work to begin in 2023.
Other projects near the site
Preliminary engineering work has already begun at the I-16 and Highway 280 interchange, which will include adding dual multi-lane roundabouts at I-16 and plans to widen 280 up to five lanes in some areas. Construction is set to begin in 2024. That project, which was already on GDOT’s books before the Mega-Site was announced, is expected to cost more than $75 million, according to GDOT estimates, with $65.2 million for construction, $6.3 million in engineering costs and about $4.2 million in right of way acquisition.
County officials also said recently the light at Highway 280 and the Oracal Parkway, just north of the interchange, could be completed early next year.
It’s budgeted to cost around $730,000 with a portion of that coming from industries in the Interstate Centre Industrial Park.
In addition, a new TSPLOST-funded roundabout at Highway 280 and Wilma Edward Roads in Black Creek is expected to cost about $1.2 million.
Work on that project is slated to begin next year.
Hyundai recently announced plans to speed up its timetable. The company aims to break ground on the Mega-Site later this year and begin production of electric vehicles in the second half of 2024, according to the Detroit Bureau website. The company has promised to hire some 8,100 workers and pay an average salary of more than $58,000, according to the agreement.
Jim Healy of the Statesboro Herald contributed to this report.