It is something we have grown accustomed to when we travel Highway 27 at Taylor’s Ridge – road construction.  The Georgia Department of Transportation tells WZQZ News that we can expect work on the ridge to continue for at least a couple more years.

For just about as long as there has been a road over Taylor’s Ridge, commuters have been dealing with poor road conditions.  Local historians have talked about wagon wheels dropping off in the huge holes that would develop on the chert road going over the ridge, and there are local news reports dating back from almost 90 years ago about problems.

In 2018, the road once again began to shift on the northside of the ridge and developed a crack in between the north and southbound lanes.  Since then, the Georgia DOT announced a major effort to help correct the issues that have plagued the ridge for so long.

WZQZ News spoke with public information office Joe Schulman this week about the ongoing project.  Schulman said, “Phase I was an interim project to help stabilize the southern slope on Taylor’s Ridge located on SR 1/US 27 in Chattooga County just east of Summerville.  The project installed longitudinal roadway drainage and horizontal drains to help remove water from the soil.”

Schulman said that the second phase of the project will consist of building stabilizer walls on the ridge. “Phase II will construct a wall on the southern slope and possibly the northern slope to stabilize the slopes.  The geotechnical work is underway to determine the number, type, and locations of the walls needed.”

The Georgia DOT says that they anticipate construction to begin in 2023.