James Simpson II  james.simpson@lagrangenews.com

 

 

 

LaGRANGE-

 

A bridge on Hammett Road will close today for construction, and buses that run to at least three Troup County Schools are being forced to reroute.

 

The heavy load of construction that is taking place will affect how students who drive, buses, and parents who drop their kids off to school and pick up them up will get to Callaway elementary, middle, and high schools in the mornings and afternoons.

 

“We have about five buses that we’re having to reroute,” said Dr. Jeffrey Turner, Troup County Schools’ transportation director. “For most of the students it will be a 5 to 10-minute difference but we do have about nine students where it’s going to be a 45-minute difference in their pick-up time and drop-off time.”

 

“We have sent out letters to the parents, the schools and the ones that will be majorly affected by the distance. We have made personal contact with those parents and made sure everyone is aware of the situation.”

 

Buses, parents dropping and picking their kids off, and high school students that transport themselves to school will have to detour around the construction and re-route. Turner does not expect it to be congested but says it’s just something students and construction workers will have to work around.

 

“Right now we feel the new routes will be efficient and safe for all the students like they have before, but we just have to detour over the bridges,” said Dr. Turner. “We’re going to have to use Leonard Road and go back over Young’s Mill Road and come back over to Glenhaven Drive, but we’re still picking up all the students that were on the buses before, however it might just be a different order. So in other words, a bus might have to run backwards a little bit to go around the detours but we’ll still covering all the same roads.”

 

The construction is expected to last six months or longer but Turner says there is no definite date that the construction will be completed.

 

“We don’t know how long it will last but we plan on finishing the year out with these routes and we’ll probably plan on starting the new year with these routes,” said Dr. Turner. “We’ll adjust and over the summer we’ll see how efficient we can make the routes.”

 

“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through the new routes and we’ll continue to monitor and adjust to make it as efficient and safe as we can,” said Turner. “Safety is our No. 1 priority.”

 

Reach James Simpson II at 706-884-7311, ext. 2155, or by email at james.simpson@lagrangenews.com