by John Stephen

Detour for students: check.

This week, students who normally use Georgia Avenue or College Street for their commute were rerouted due to maintenance taking place on those two roads.

The City of Valdosta is resurfacing portions of Georgia Avenue and College Street, and this work should be complete by the end of the week, according to Sementha Mathews, Valdosta’s public information officer.

“The city apologizes for any inconvenience that these road improvements may cause, but the necessary work will result in a more safe and pleasant traveling experience on our city streets,” Mathews said.

Aaron Wood, junior undecided major, lives in the Wesley House on College Street. While the noise isn’t an issue for him because no work takes place at night, Wood said it’s a big hassle getting into the Wesley lot because of all the blocked-off areas near the roadwork.

Currently, he has to turn into the Music Annex beside the Wesley House to get home.

“Hopefully the new road will be worth it,” Wood said.

Christiana Epperson, junior physics major, lives on Williams Street but uses College Street to walk home. Although she’s had to alter her path slightly as a result of the roadwork, Epperson doesn’t have a problem with the resurfacing.

“It’s no big deal,” Epperson said.

These road repairs are part of a plan to resurface 2.56 miles of city streets, according to a City of Valdosta press release. Funds for this project, which began Jan. 20, are coming from the GDOT’s Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant and SPLOST VII.

While roads being repaired will be closed during the day, they will be reopened at the end of each workday.

To see the 12 streets being resurfaced this year, visit the Engineering page on the City of Valdosta website and choose Project News and Updates.