AUGUSTA, Ga. – Two border states will take a major step forward in making your travel safer. The Departments of Transportation in Georgia and South Carolina are set to sign an agreement Wednesday that will fund a plan to replace the 1-20 bridges across the Savannah River and Augusta Canal.

The Georgia DOT says more than 60 thousand cars travel through the I-20 passageway between states every day. They also say the 4 bridges are aging. The two that span the Augusta Canal were built in the 1960’s and no longer meet current operating standards.

The new, $75 million dollar plan is to widen the Interstate from two to three lanes from the Riverwatch Parkway exit in Georgia, to the Martintown road exit in South Carolina. Some who travel across the bridges often say the bridges are too narrow and need to be replaced. Truck driver, Tony Taylor says, “Two trucks crossing at the same time, you’ve only got maybe a foot, foot and a half between the mirrors on the trucks. So it definitely needs to be replaced, something needs to be done.” Brenda Davalie, another frequent I-20 traveler says, “They need a new bridge there because it’s narrow and it’s old and just for safety purposes. I agree, they should change that or redo it or get a new bridge or whatever.”

The GDOT says the new bridges will alleviate traffic congestion during wrecks on the bridges. Kyle Collins, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Transportation says, “If there is an incident, plenty of room for emergency personnel and officials to get the vehicles involved in the accident off the travel ways. So there’s plenty of room on the inside and outside shoulder to do that, to get traffic back flowing quicker than it is now.”

This project is still a ways off. Bids for the project will be released in 2018, and construction should start in 2019.