By County Commission Chairman Carter Infinger.
Well, here we are in 2021! At the very least, it’s not 2020!
Already, we have much to look forward to and celebrate over the next year. We’re excited about the culmination of a few projects that have been a long time in the making, including the opening of the Interstate 95/Belfast Keller interchange and the 144 widening.
Having the interchange fully open and accessible in South Bryan County is a game-changer. This is a wonderful addition for our citizens in terms of safety and convenience. During hurricane evacuations, this gives us another path to get people on the road and out of harm’s way quickly and more efficiently, which we’re grateful for. Also, this has been a great project to collaborate on with several supportive partners, including the City of Richmond Hill, Rayonier, GDOT and many of our supporters at the state level. We thank everyone who had a hand in bringing this project to fruition.
The 144 widening also makes that heavily-traveled road safer for our residents while reducing drive times and keeping traffic flowing efficiently. It’s gratifying to be able to increase our residents’ quality of life by helping to facilitate these infrastructure improvement projects.
We’re still looking ahead to the completion of even more projects in 2021, such as the new gymnasium at Henderson Park. In addition, Bryan County has reached an agreement with the City of Savannah to build a line to their sewer system as increased waste-processing capacity is needed. This partnership is mutually beneficial to both Bryan County and the City of Savannah.
One thing that I hope everyone will continue to keep in mind right now and likely for the next several months – the threat of COVID-19 has not passed. We’re glad the vaccine is out and many first responders, healthcare workers, and people 65 and above in Bryan County have already received it. However, that is not a cause for letting our guards down. The risk of COVID is still very real and we need everyone to continue practicing diligent social distancing, mask wearing and sanitizing. Please remember to follow the protocols if you learn you’ve potentially been exposed to COVID and, especially, if you test positive. We encourage everyone to get the vaccine when it becomes more widely available to the general public. In the meantime, be safe and continue to err on the side of caution.
Thank you for continuing to allow me to serve you this year. I look forward to another productive and busy term as your commission chairman. We’ve accomplished much, but we have more to do, so let’s get started.
Infinger is chairman of the Bryan County Commission.