The annual paving season, when warmer temperatures allow pouring asphalt and concrete, may have arrived but that doesn’t mean Battlefield Parkway’s surface will soon become as smooth as satin sheets. The Georgia Department of Transportation will accept bids — in October — for repaving Catoosa County’s main east-west connector sometime next year. Devon Brooks, area engineer for GDOT, said preliminary estimates to resurface Ga. 2, the parkway’s official designation, from Fowler Road, about one mile east of Interstate 75, westward to the Walker County line is estimated at about $4.8 million. “We’ve done intersection improvements and signal upgrades galore — such as the one at Pine Grove Road — at several locations in recent years, but the last resurfacing was performed prior to 1995,” she said. State and local officials agree that while patching cracks has added several years to the road’s useful life, a thorough repaving is both welcome and overdue. “The bumps you see and feel are the result of pavement preservation work,” Brooks said. The engineer said that instead of repaving every 10 years, this preventive maintenance program allows GDOT to keep a road serviceable for a longer period of time but not indefinitely. “What we do is rate the roads every year,” she said. “At a certain point they will qualify for resurfacing.” Catoosa County projects administrator Christal Thomas said the parkway is due for repaving. “Patches, while not attractive, do not affect the usability of the road,” she said. “But resurfacing is something that is needed.” Brooks said the installation of a traffic signal and turn lanes at Crye Lyke Drive should be finished before work begins on a total rehabilitation of the parkway. “This will be milling and inlay,” she said, describing a process in which machines cut, grind and recycle old pavement into new. GDOT has recommended restricted working hours to minimize inconvenience to travelers. “Work will probably be done at night, not during rush hours or during the school year,” Brooks said. While resurfacing Battlefield Parkway is something that will not occur until 2014, a $400,000 project to repave Cloud Springs Road/Ga. 146 between Lakeview Drive and U.S. 27 is slated to begin shortly. “The part of state route 146, that has not been rewidened will be repaved this summer,” she said.

Work to make Dietz Road safer is expected to be complete before year’s end. Catoosa County will announce Wednesday, May 29, a request for bids to perform major reconstruction of a section of Dietz Road near Cloud Springs Road. Catoosa County projects administrator Christal Thomas said a hill will be lowered to provide improved sight lines where traffic from Cinderella Hills enters this major north-south traffic artery. Detours can be expected as a project of this magnitude will require the total temporary closure of Dietz Road, she said. Bids for this SPLOST (special-purpose local-option sales tax) funded project will be opened in June and work should be completed within 90 days of the contract being awarded.