Newton County approves 2026 transportation plan update and $500,000 road IGA with Covington

Interim Chair Linda D. Hays presided as the Newton County Board of Commissioners on May 19 approved a countywide Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) update and authorized a cross-jurisdictional road improvement agreement with the City of Covington.

The board approved the CTP update, which the minutes list at a cost of $400,000 with funding noted as 80% from the Federal Highway Administration and 20% local. Commissioner Stan Edwards moved to approve the plan; Commissioner LeAnne Long seconded. The motion passed on a 5-0 vote. Attachments to the minutes include the CTP Update 2026 and a proposed project list.

Separately, the commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the City of Covington to fund improvements to City Pond Road and Williams Road at a cost of $500,000. Commissioner J.C. Henderson moved the IGA; Commissioner Andre Cooper seconded and the motion passed 5-0. The minutes record the funding source for the project as SPLOST (project year 23).

Acting County Manager James Brown is listed in the meeting roster and the minutes note the county’s planning and funding references but the consultant named for a transportation briefing, Lumenor Consulting Group, was not present at the meeting. The minutes do not specify which individual projects from the CTP will be scheduled first or the timetable for construction; they reference an attached proposed project list without detail in the minutes themselves.

The approvals put local and federal funding streams in place to advance a set of projects contained in the county’s CTP and to begin the cross-jurisdictional road work with Covington. The board recorded no dissent on the items; all votes were 5-0.