Bryan County Commissioners said residents would soon see construction on the Belfast Keller Road project in Richmond Hill.

J. Hiers, the company awarded the contract for $1.6 million at last month’s commission meeting, has been on site working, according to Phil Jones, city administrator.

"At some point in the construction," Jones said, "they’re going to have to cut some of the lanes off and block traffic completely."

Hiers is currently working on the time-frame plan for the lane closures, Jones said.

"It will happen when they tie the new interchange into the Belfast Keller Loop Road and Belfast Siding Road, but it will only be a couple of days, and we will plan alternate routes," he said.

The project includes adding four feet of width to the Loop Road from Hwy. 144 to Belfast Siding road, increasing it from 22 feet to 24 feet and realigning the interchange - which is on a state list of hoped for road improvements. The project also includes a full scale reclamation that strips the old road, injects it with concrete and lays it back down, according to Jones.

He said they hope the project will be completed by the end of the summer, before the new school year.

"Weather will play a part in the construction time," he said.

The funds for the $1.6 million project come from money allocated in the roads budget for this year, funds pushed forward from last year’s unused funds, and approximately $300,000 in SPLOST funds, Jones said.

Because of shortfalls in state funding the project will be completed using local tax dollars, but commissioners hope to recoup some of the money from the promised federal economic stimulus, Jones said.