Chattahoochee County approves GDOT maintenance agreement for planned roundabout at SR 1/SR 520

Chattahoochee County commissioners voted unanimously March 4 to approve a Right‑of‑Way Mowing & Maintenance Agreement with the Georgia Department of Transportation for Project ID 0015687, a planned single‑lane roundabout at the intersection of State Route 1/State Route 520 and County Road 109/Wells Street.

The agreement, transmitted to the county by GDOT in a February 21 letter, authorizes the county to perform specified maintenance within GDOT right‑of‑way—landscaping, mowing, sidewalk upkeep and similar tasks—and runs for up to 50 years unless terminated. The county accepted responsibility for all costs and liability tied to that maintenance, must follow the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices when work could affect traffic, and must carry the insurance or self‑insurance described in the contract.

GDOT’s State Program Delivery Administrator Kimberly W. Nesbitt wrote to Chairman Coffey asking the county to execute the agreement in the Department’s Contract Authorization Tracking System (CATS). The letter and the agreement spells out operational requirements including: adherence to MUTCD temporary traffic control standards; a requirement to notify GDOT and complete a traffic interruption report before any activity that interferes with traffic or pedestrian flow; and indemnification of the Department by the county.

Commissioner Damon Hoyte moved to approve the agreement; Commissioner Gerald Douglas seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimous. The motion records reflect the approval without recorded opposing votes.

The agreement states the county will perform maintenance “at no cost to the DEPARTMENT” and that the LOCAL GOVERNMENT shall bear all costs and liability associated with the maintenance work. It also requires that county maintenance activities not damage GDOT signs, structures or roadway fixtures, and that the county restore or remove non‑standard landscape features if it stops maintaining them. Significant work that could affect traffic will require at least 48 hours’ notice to GDOT for coordination, per the agreement.

Next steps: the county will execute the agreement as directed and GDOT will route the executed documents for GDOT signatures and return a fully executed copy to the county for its project file. The project remains on GDOT’s schedule for construction processes and local maintenance obligations. The commission did not specify funding sources tied to routine maintenance obligations in its motion; the agreement makes the county responsible for inspection, supervision, insurance and any related costs.