Early County bumps, potholes and cracks get some help thanks to T-SPLOST

Two years ago, Early County voters passed a 1-cent sales tax known as a T-SPLOST.

Those funds have started to accumulate, and the county commission has decided to put them to use.

Broken shoulders and patch marks plague plenty of roads in Early County.

It's a problem that's getting some attention from the Early County Commission.

"First of all, T-SPLOST is special purpose local option sales tax for transportation,” said Early County Commission Chairman June Merritt.

Two years ago, the Early County commission asked voters to approve the one-cent sales tax to specifically go toward transportation improvements.

The county surveyed all of its roads and targeted eight, "That were in very, very bad shape," said Merritt.

Then it took out $2.3 million in bonds and bid out the project.

"After we got their bid, we decided we knew we could not do all eight roads because it came in at something like $4.6 million,” said Merritt.

So, the county is focusing on 3.8 miles of Jakin Road, four miles of Damascus Hilton Road, two miles of Spooner Quarter Road and 4.5 miles of River Road.

County officials have found that's it the shoulders of the roads that have deteriorated the fastest, and the reason is farm equipment.

As farm equipment continues to get bigger and heavier, the roads, well, they've stayed the same.

"This is a farming community, and we're not saying you cannot ride on these roads with your equipment, because they have to,” said Merritt.

The county will continue to collect the one-cent tax for at least three more years to pay off the bond that paid for the road work and eventually expand the project to four more roads.

The other four roads include Freeman Road, Five Bridges Road, Nicklesville Road, and Pullen Road.