Old Dawson Road in Albany will soon see new sidewalks

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - One thing some people in Albany often complain about is the lack of sidewalks around town.

With the addition of the new sidewalk project on Old Dawson Road, which took a year of planning, it will be safer for people catching the bus and walking in general.

“So, you know, for the past week, I think it’s actually really good. It makes it a lot safer for people to walk along the streets. Really glad to see all when you started to prosper a little bit more. It’s been really hard for the past couple of years. And to see this happen, it really warms my heart,” Albany resident, Robert Gunter said.

This particular sidewalk became necessary because of the foot traffic to the bus stop and the heavy traffic nearby. And city leaders say they’ve got their eyes on trouble spots as well.

“You know what I’ve seen on the horizon is walking trails is a road that I get a lot of comments about like a station off Gillionville. There’s a lot of walking traffic that goes to middle school. There are other sections of Broad Avenue that we’re going to continue to include and improve on,” City Commissioner Ward 4, Chad Warbington said.

The city says it has plans for other sidewalk projects, but right now, they’re addressing the high-priority areas.

“So really, it’s gonna provide a tremendous asset to our community and the ability for walkability. Some folks take the bus to give them a way to safely maneuver for the bus stop, but even just citizens in general, we want to encourage folks to walk in your shopping, park in one spot and walk to the neighboring shopping center,” said Warbington.

This sidewalk project is funded by Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes (TSPLOST).

Construction is expected to be completed sometime around November.

The city says this area was considered a high priority because of the number of people who shop in the businesses there.

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