Oconee County Land Use Committee Told Mars Hill Road Widening Will Take 3 Years To Complete

The first phase of the Mars Hill Road widening project will take three years to complete, significantly disrupt traffic in the process, cost the county up to $4 million on top of state costs, and increase the volume of water in Barber Creek and its tributaries.

This is what Emil Beshara, director of the Oconee County Public Works Department, told the county’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Land Use and Transportation Planning last month.

The county is wrapping up land acquisition, and construction should start in early July, according to Beshara.

Initial attention will be at the Mars Hill Road bridge over Barber Creek, just south of the Mars Hill Road/Oconee Connector/Daniells Bridge Road intersection.

For more on this story, including a full video of Beshara’s comments on the project, go to Oconee County Observations.