Sections of Sea Island Road will be closed to thru traffic beginning February 4th, 2016 through no later than February 22nd, 2016.
Monday, April 20th, 2015, the JWSC entered into a contract with Popco, Inc. out of Albany, Georgia for improvements to Sanitary Sewer Basin 2030 and a needed Water Main Extension in the Sea Island Road area of St. Simons Island. This project is now in its final phase of construction.
The contractor gave both the JWSC and Glynn County (which is responsible for traffic management on St. Simons Island) the options of completing the bore phase of this project under a lane closure lasting 36 or more days versus a road closure for 15 or fewer days. As all parties involved preferred to create the least amount of inconvenience as possible for residents of St. Simons Island, Sea Island and commuters from other areas, the shorter term full road closure was chosen as the most prudent choice.
As of February 1st, 2016, the JWSC, Popco, and other subcontractors will be mobilizing large boring equipment to replace 3,500 linear feet of 18” sanitary sewer force main and a 14” water main. Lane and/or road closures will be needed to accomplish this task as the work cannot safely be performed with both workers and equipment operating in the same area as oncoming vehicular traffic. Mobilization and setup of this equipment will be completed on or prior to February 4rd, at which time Sea Island Road will be closed from the intersection of Hawkins Island Drive to just before the entrance to the Sea Island Inn.
All shops, businesses and homes will maintain full access other than not being able to drive through the road closure. Residents of Hamilton Landing, Epworth by the Sea, Epworth Acres, and Hawkins Island will still have access to their homes via the Demere Road intersection of Sea Island Road. The Shops of Sea Island, Island Theater, Sea Island Inn, Sea Island Properties, CVS and all other businesses east of the road closure will still be able to fully access their properties via the Frederica Road intersection of Sea Island Road. A map with these details is shown below.
Planning is in place to allow for the passage of all officially marked emergency vehicles through the road closure.
The JWSC apologizes in advance for any inconvenience that may be experienced during this crucial upgrade to the utility system on St. Simons Island. Please note that these upgrades were identified as being critical in 2003.
Any questions or concerns can be directed to Todd Kline, JWSC Senior Engineer at tkline@bgjwsc.org or 912.261.7126.
Update 1/25/16: In regards to questions about daytime single-lane closure with nighttime full road closure, it was determined by a joint JWSC/Glynn County traffic control review that the hazards introduced by partial closure would grossly outweigh the benefits to local traffic flow.
County and JWSC staff agreed that consistency with the traffic control is preferred. Alternating between the two types of traffic control would likely lead to confusion.
The primary reason for full road closure is for safety, but also to give the contractor full room for drill rig support equipment to expedite the work. This allows the reduction in total time of traffic impact down to a maximum of 15 days. The expedited scheduling requires working 24 hours a day for the full 15 days.
