CARTERSVILLE, Ga. - A public hearing open house to discuss the Georgia Department of Transportation’s proposed plans for the widening and reconstruction of State Route (SR) 140 in Floyd and Bartow counties is scheduled for Thursday, July 30, 2009, from 4 until 7 p.m.

The meeting will be held at the Jackson House, located at 203 North Main Street in the city of Adairsville.

Floyd and Bartow counties’ residents interested in learning more about the proposed project are encouraged to attend the meeting and express their thoughts and preferences.

"We would like to hear the viewpoints and concerns of all area residents," said Kent Sager, district engineer at the Georgia DOT office in Cartersville, in a press release today.

The proposed plans call for widening SR 140 from two to four lanes, beginning at Ga. Hwy. 53 in Floyd County and extending to U.S. 41/SR 3 in Bartow County, for a distance of approximately 7.2 miles. The proposed project also includes the replacement of the two bridges on SR 140 over the Oothkalooga Creek and CSX Railroad.

“The Georgia DOT strongly believes that since this project is intended to serve the people of Floyd and Bartow counties, the ideas and preferences of these people are important,” Sager said. “This meeting will provide the public in these two counties with an opportunity to review the proposed project, ask questions, and express their preferences as well as their concerns.”

The main purpose of the project is to improve the operational capacity, efficiency and safety of SR 140 between Ga. Hwy. 53 in Floyd County and the city of Adairsville in Bartow County.

This portion of SR 140 is designated as a truck route under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA). It provides truck traffic with an east-west connection to Interstate 75. As development along SR 140 becomes denser, widening the highway would ease congestion while allocating access to I-75 for the STAA truck route. The proposed project would also improve safety for motorists using the highway by widening and reconstructing portions of the rural roadway, widening transitions to an urban section with a raised median, and improving the side roads as needed to increase safety at their intersections with SR 140.