Road Department

The primary mission of the Franklin County Road Department is to perform repairs and maintenance promptly, efficiently, and economically. This is done by planned activities, proper equipment with both skilled and dedicated employees.

The FC Road Department is responsible for maintaining 447 total miles of roadway in Franklin County, which can be broken down into 172 miles of gravel roads and 275 miles of paved roads. These miles are currently being maintained by 10 road department personnel and one road superintendent. The role of the road department is to ensure these 447 miles have the following completed:

• Gravel roads have been scraped
• All shoulder miles have been mowed, either by bush hog or slope mower
• Install, repair, and cleanout driveway pipes and cross drains
• Maintain ditches and drainage areas
• Take on major and minor grading projects throughout the year
• Repair potholes
• Cut and remove trees from the right-of-way
• Repair and install roadway signage
• Assess and prioritize the repaving or patching of paved roads
• Assisting in all aspects of Franklin County's Solid Waste Department: Hauling garbage bins and sorting recyclables to be baled

Unfortunately, most of the time we never think about the maintenance of our road system until something goes wrong -- such as a pothole, drainage problem, or a downed tree. At such times we may wonder, "Who do we need to call?", and "How long will it take to be repaired?". 

Who do we need to call? Every situation is different depending on the request. For instance:

• If there is a downed tree, please call 9-1-1.
• If you experience road flooding, do NOT attempt to cross, and call 9-1-1.
• Drainage issue, Gravel road scraping, pothole, or bush hogging please call Board of Commissioners office at 706-384-2483 to request a work order. 
• To report a signage issue you can call the Board of Commissioners office Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, after hours please call 9-1-1 so the problem can be resolved by on-call personnel.

When will it be done? It depends on the situation. Downed trees will be cut and removed from the travel lanes immediately, however, the debris may remain on the right-of-way until a date and crews are scheduled to remove them.

Signage issues are typically handled immediately for safety concerns.

We have a single bush hog crew, which follows a very intricate route that takes them up and down every shoulder mile in this county totaling close to 894 miles. This is the equant of riding on a tractor from Carnesville, Georgia to Madison, Wisconsin which is approximately 884 miles.

We have two motor grader crews that split operating territories. These two territories are divided by Highway 106 throughout Franklin County. The motor grader crews tend to operate on a maintenance request basis, but will also scrape roads along the way as needed. Both the motor graders take care of about 172 miles of gravel roadways.

Potholes, drainage issues, pipe cleanout, and pipe installations are scheduled operations. The road department typically shuts down one or more crews to take care of these types of scheduled operations.