The Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) repaired stoplights at more than twenty Richmond County intersections on Friday.

When the sun came up Friday morning, signals at 95 Richmond County intersections needed repair. Georgia DOT crews worked hard throughout the day to bring that number down to 74.

“I’m very proud of our crews,” said District Engineer Corbett Reynolds. “We have streamlined our delivery and building processes for signals, which has generated more production.”

Our signal shop in Tennille has built more than 60 new signal heads in the last two days. We are training additional staff how to build signal heads so we can increase production and better utilize our signal technicians.

Some stoplights are still non-operational due to power loss. Georgia DOT continued placing temporary stop signs at those intersections on Friday. If you approach a non-operational stoplight, we remind you to treat it like a stop sign.

Cleanup continues across the rest of Georgia DOT District 2 (east-central Georgia).

Georgia DOT maintenance crews continued pushing debris away from the shoulders of interstates and high priority state routes. This work will continue through the weekend.

All utility conflicts have been resolved. After the storm, crews were unable to remove some debris because it was wrapped up in power lines. That is no longer a concern on any state routes in the district.

The contractor is making progress on State Route 296 in Jefferson County between Warrior Trail and United States 1/United States 221, which has been closed because of a road washout. On Friday, a new pipe was installed.

Detour signs are now in place on State Route 86 near the Laurens/Treutlen County line. This is now an extended closure because crews discovered additional concerns and need to replace a culvert. The road has been closed because of a road washout.

We continue to ask drivers to limit all non-essential travel to help our Georgia DOT crews perform their work quicker and safer.

“Please be patient with us, we’re working as hard as we possibly can,” said Reynolds.