Hart County to apply for GDOT safety action plan grant to fund signage, markers and rumble strips

Hart County commissioners voted 5-0 to pursue a Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) safety action plan grant at their May 2025 meeting. County staff described eligible items including signage and marking, raised pavement markers, and center-line and shoulder rumble strips.

Commissioners discussed how the grant differs from prior striping grants and which countermeasures would qualify. The county administrator and commissioners said they would shift planned raised pavement marker work from the county’s pavement-marking bid into the grant application to increase matching funds and extend scope. “Take what we were gonna do on the pavement marking bid, the raised pavement markers, take that out, put that in here,” a commissioner said while describing the strategy.

The grant requires a 30% local match. Commissioners asked about crash-data timeframes and duplicate road-name entries in the GDOT packet; county staff said some data appear to be abbreviated or duplicated and that the application would incorporate a local road-safety study to strengthen the grant narrative. Commissioner Dorsey moved to proceed with the application and to include targeted locations such as Liberty Hill Church Road and Nancy Hart School Road; Commissioner Brown seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Staff was authorized to prepare the application, use available regional resources (GMRC or other consultants) if feasible, and add a road-safety study component to the safety action plan. The board instructed staff to prioritize rapid-flashing beacons, rumble strips and locations discussed in the meeting should the grant be awarded.