The local Georgia Department of Transportation office will hold open houses next week for public review and comment on the fiscal year 2018 – 2021 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) in Southwest Georgia.

The STIP is a four-year program. It is designed to achieve Georgia’s transportation goals as envisioned by the governor and State Transportation Board for improving the mobility of people and goods across the state, expanding Georgia’s role in global commerce, reducing injury and loss of life on Georgia’s roadways, and prioritizing investments in Georgia’s transportation infrastructure assets. The STIP specifies federally-funded transportation projects for non-urban communities in rural Georgia for fiscal years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. These projects include, but are not limited to, new construction, improvements and maintenance for interstates, state routes and bridges. Additional projects include bicycle and pedestrian, transportation enhancement and public transit.

The draft FY 2018-21 STIP in Southwest Georgia will be available for review at open houses sponsored by the Georgia DOT District 4 office in Tifton. The public is invited to view maps of projects in the local area, discuss projects with Georgia DOT staff and formally offer comments.

Open houses for Southwest Georgia are:

Aug. 28

5-7 p.m.

Albany Mall center court

2601 Dawson Road

Albany, GA

Aug. 29

5-7 p.m.

Tifton Mall

458 Virginia Ave.

Tifton, GA

The open houses include projects planned for Atkinson, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Early, Echols, Grady, Irwin, Lanier, Lee (northern half), Miller, Mitchell, Quitman, Randolph, Seminole, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Turner, Wilcox and Worth counties.

Counties that are designated part of “metropolitan areas” review their projects through their Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and have their public review done independently. MPOs in Southwest Georgia are the Dougherty Area Regional Transportation Study MPO, which includes the city of Albany, Dougherty County and the southern half of Lee County, and the Valdosta-Lowndes MPO.

The draft FY 2018-21 STIP will also be available online at http:/www.dot.ga.gov/IS/STIP. The Department looks forward to working with the public during the development of the draft FY 2018-21 STIP.