COLUMBUS, Ga. - Drivers who use the County Line Road interchange on Manchester Expressway have until Friday, Nov. 20, to tell the Georgia Department of Transportation what they think of a plan to replace the bridge and put roundabouts at the ramp ends. GDOT held an open house on the project Thursday, Nov. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Psalmond Road Park Recreation Center, 6550 Psalmond Road, in Midland, according to a Columbus Consolidated Government announcement reported by the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Anyone who missed it can still comment online through GDOT's Public Outreach page by selecting project number 0019517.

Kenneth Franks, the state's Transportation Investment Act administrator, told WTVM at the open house that GDOT wants public input early so it can refine the design before construction. "We're a couple years out from advancing this project to construction," Franks said, according to the station. WTVM described the goal as modernizing one of Muscogee County's busiest interchanges, easing bottlenecks and improving safety on the link between Columbus and Harris County.

What would change

The project would replace the County Line Road bridge over Manchester Expressway, which carries U.S. 27 Alternate and State Route 85, the Ledger-Enquirer reported Oct. 9. Roundabouts would go in at the interchange ramps, and the existing roundabout at Mehaffey Road would be expanded. GDOT's project database describes it as reconstructing the interchange, replacing the bridge and installing roundabouts at the ramp intersections.

GDOT lists the project as a reconstruction and rehabilitation job in Muscogee County under its TIA office, with William Lee Eastin as project manager. The database shows an approved concept report dated March 2026. The record does not yet list a right-of-way authorization, a let date or a contractor.

Cost and timeline

The money comes from the regional Transportation Investment Act program, the regional sales tax program that WTVM and the Ledger-Enquirer both cite as the funding source. GDOT's project database breaks the estimate into three phases. Each phase has its own program year. The figures below are from that database:

The Ledger-Enquirer, citing the Columbus Consolidated Government's July infrastructure update, put the budget at $36.65 million and the estimated construction start at summer 2030. GDOT's database lists construction in program year 2031, so the exact start will depend on when right of way is finished. Franks' comment that construction is "a couple years out" fits either schedule.

Why roundabouts

GDOT has been pairing bridge work in Columbus with roundabouts rather than traffic signals. In September, the agency announced a separate TIA project to rebuild the Schomburg Road and Blackmon Road bridges over J.R. Allen Parkway with single-lane roundabouts, sidewalks, raised medians and pedestrian improvements, the Ledger-Enquirer reported. That project, estimated at about $11.3 million in the city's July update, had its open house Oct. 13 at Blackmon Road Middle School and closed comments Oct. 27.

The County Line Road plan is larger because it includes a new bridge over the expressway and ramp roundabouts on both sides. The Mehaffey Road roundabout just north of the interchange already exists and would be enlarged. GDOT has not published traffic counts or final lane configurations for the interchange in the materials reviewed for this story.

How to comment

GDOT's open house format had no formal presentation, and residents could arrive at any time to review plans and talk to planners, the Ledger-Enquirer reported. The same drawings are the basis for the online comment period. No account is needed to leave a comment on the state page. Here is how to weigh in before the deadline:

• Go to dot.ga.gov and open the Public Outreach page.
• Select PI Number 0019517, the County Line Road at Manchester Expressway project.
• Submit comments by Friday, Nov. 20.

Franks told WTVM the point of taking comments now is to refine the proposal before the design is final. Drivers who use the interchange daily, including Harris County commuters heading into Columbus, are the audience GDOT says it wants to hear from. The agency said the early input is meant to shape the proposal, not simply to announce it.

Other road work nearby

The County Line Road project is one of several in the Midland and north Columbus area. Harris County contractors closed East Bonacre Road from U.S. 27 to Janet Drive for about three months starting Monday, Nov. 9, for work tied to the U.S. 27 widening, according to a Harris County notice. The Columbus Consolidated Government's infrastructure updates, posted with council meeting materials, track the TIA projects in the city and are the source for the $36.65 million figure cited by the Ledger-Enquirer.

Residents with questions beyond the comment form can look up the project manager named on GDOT's project page for PI 0019517. The Columbus Times will follow the project as GDOT moves toward right-of-way purchases in 2029. For now, the Nov. 20 deadline is the next date that matters.