City using water source at corner of S. College St. and W. Ware St. for Lankford Corner project

Drivers who are heading down South College Street on Monday evening might have been greeted with an unpleasant surprise: a closed bridge, and no immediate reason as to what was wrong.

No truck was stuck – one of the typical reasons traffic gets detoured. It appeared to be in good shape.

Instead, city officials had to shut down the bridge over the railroad tracks on South College Street to help with another project unconnected: Lankford Corner.

City Manager Edward Guzman explained on Monday evening during the Cedartown City Commission meeting that the project was encountering issues with soil remediation on the site, requiring the budget to be adjusted slightly for the construction project when past foundations were found and causing issues. The city will be forced to keep the bridge closed for the next four days while the work is being completed to fix those problems.

Part of the cleanup work on the soil to get it ready for the new facility, parking area and landscaping – also the required drainage for stormwater and utility lines – contractors needed water on site.

The closest source currently? A fire hydrant on the corner of South College Street and West Ware Street. The problem? It is on the Penny Pinchers side of the street.

So officials are forced to close down the bridge while water is in use until Friday evening.

“We know this will cause some problems for local residents who rely on the route down South College Street as part of their routine route around Cedartown, but this necessity to ensure contractors have a stable supply of water for the remediation will provide long term benefits for everyone,” Guzman said. “We know it is an inconvenience, but one that unfortunately could not be helped.”

Commissioners approved the budget adjustment to $4 million – still slightly lower than originally bid for the project by a few thousand dollars – but additional savings might still be found in the long run, Guzman reported to the board on Monday night.

External lighting usually owned and operated by Georgia Power could provide the city some savings if they bought, installed and maintained it themselves, Guzman said. The city does pay some additional cost to Georgia Power for operating some street lighting on city property.

Drivers for now are encouraged to use Main Street as a detour route from West Avenue to Canal Street to avoid any issues if they are passing through to other destinations until the weekend.