Three counties have been putting their heads together to bump up the timeline for widening Ga. 140, creating a mainline for industrial traffic and clearing up safety concerns in the tri-county area.

Up to this point the meetings have been informal, but commissioners from Floyd, Bartow and Chattooga counties are looking to expedite the project

and have agreed to contact key legislators and approve resolutions in support of the project, Rome City Manager John Bennett said.

The only portion of the project on the DOT's radar is the 7.2 miles of roadway between Ga. 53 and Interstate 75. The project has been estimated at $55 million.

So far, the GDOT has budgeted about $15 million to start acquiring right of way after July 1, 2010.

As a part of the acquisition phase for the section of road between Ga. 53 and I-75, some 190 parcels will be affected with demolition slated for 33 houses, seven businesses and Bethel Baptist Church in Floyd County.

However, another section of 140 would have to be widened to make the project viable for Chattooga County and that is making the highway four lanes from U.S. 27 to Ga. 55 _ GDOT officials said that project is still in the long term planning stage.

Rome’s David Doss, a member of the State Transportation Board, said the fact that all three counties are working together is definite plus.

Design, engineering work and environmental assessments are nearly completed, and right-of-way purchases could start next year, he said.

The biggest challenge will be getting the construction money.

“The appropriation for the construction money is no earlier than 2016,” Doss said regarding the 53 to Adairsville expansion. “Given the financial situation the DOT is in, how do we accelerate that?”

Floyd County Manager Kevin Poe said additional stimulus or state funding sometimes becomes available for “shovel ready” projects.

“We wouldn’t want to miss that opportunity,” Poe said.

The three counties are hoping to spur the project and have construction at least started within the next two to four years, Bennett said.

The main purpose of the widening project is to improve the operational capacity, efficiency and safety of the route for existing industry, Poe said.

“We want a good direct route to 75 to help existing industry and recruit new industry,” Poe said.

In addition, the project could make the area more attractive to new

industries — especially with the projected peripheral boom expected from a soon-to-be-built Chattanooga Volkswagen plant.

When Jason Winters, Chattooga County’s sole commissioner, asked Chattooga County industry representatives what project would be the most beneficial for industry, the hands-down answer was widening Ga. 140.

There is also the issue of safety, said Poe.

“From a safety situation that highway is way over capacity,” Poe said. “The number of trucks on that road is over capacity.”

One possibility for further funding may be routing money allocated for other projects to Ga. 140.

For some time now funding has been allocated for a Summerville bypass, but Winters said they’d rather see those funds shifted to the widening project. The Summer­ville project was estimated at $70 million, including construction costs.

“We’re just saying locally it would benefit us more to see Highway 140 widened,” Winters said. “The economic potential it has for Chattooga County is great.”

Deputy Editor Mike Colombo contributed to this report.