Funding to the tune of $1.32 million will go toward studying the proposed Interstate 3 between Savannah and Knoxville, Tenn., under legislation the U.S. House of Representatives was expected to approve late Thursday night.
The money would be the first funding for a study of the interstate and would be approved about a year after legislation first was floated to study the road through Northeast Georgia, including Elbert, Hart and Stephens counties. The bill also included $1.32 million for a study of Interstate 14 between Natchez, Miss., and Augusta, where it would connect with I-3.
“We are absolutely excited about (the funding) to move (the projects) forward,” said John Stone, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Augusta.
The $1.32 million in funding for each of the two proposed interstate projects is more than three times the original $400,000 request. Georgia Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson pushed up the amounts from $400,000 while the bill was in a House-Senate conference committee.
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