MTO: State delays Houston widening during historic review

Widening of Houston Road has been delayed following a request by the state historic preservation office for a re-evaluation of properties along the road.

The state Department of Transportation was to have awarded the contract for construction Friday. With the delay, the five-lane widening will wait until September, road officials said.

The Historic Preservation Division will reconsider adding Heard Elementary School to the national register of historic places, in addition to possibly creating a small historic district there along with Liberty United Methodist Church and its cemetery, both located in the lot adjoining the school.

The Historic Preservation Division's acting director, Ray Luce, said Monday that all parties should have considered the school more closely than they did the first time. The school was determined not to qualify for the national register in 1995 because of additions to the original building.

Luce blamed poor photographs and insufficient information for the 1995 decision.

The Historic Preservation Division decided to revisit the entire road project a month ago at the urging of state Sen. Robert Brown. Luce said Brown's letter to the office focused more on downtown preservation but that the division decided to review the whole plan.

"I think the main thing changed this time is that when we were down a couple of weeks ago, we went out to the property and looked at it," Luce said. "Then, we went back and looked through the files."

Luce said a consultant hired by Moreland Altobelli had conducted only a "windshield survey" of the property.

"That doesn't mean they didn't get out of their car," he said, "but that there wasn't the same level of documentation and less information learned by talking to people."

What this means for Houston Road is that no construction will begin until probably September, said Van Etheridge, the road program's manager. It is possible that the school still will not qualify for the national register.

If it does, however, that fact alone will not change the design or scope of the project.

"We'll possibly do mitigation," he said. "We're talking about moving the road to clear the property. We'd still be going with five lanes, but move the widening to the other side."

Marilyn Meggs, a member of CAUTION Macon living in the area, said the delay is a positive step.

CAUTION Macon has filed a notice of litigation against Bibb County to try to stop federal funding for future road projects, including Houston Road. The group claims historic preservation has not been considered throughout the course of the road program especially along Houston.

Attorney Hale Almand, representing the county's interests in the road program, said the delay is not a result of the possible litigation. He said a suit had not been filed against the county.