Inquirer: Good news for travelers driving to Columbus

Columbus will soon be a more welcoming place, I’m told.

Several Alert Readers have called recently to ask about the Welcome Center up on Williams Road, which we wrote about back in January. All wanted to know when the center will be back up and running.

So I called my Department of Transportation board member friend Sam Wellborn, who said it should be open by mid-August. He spoke with the project manager, who told him it would have been opening sooner, but they’re waiting for a vital part for the HVAC system, and you don’t want a grand opening of anything around here in July or August without the AC blowing.

Good call.

The renovation is part of a $20 million program to completely overhaul the state’s nine welcome centers, Wellborn said. Actually, only eight are getting overhauls because the ninth, which is in Savannah, is so new it hasn’t opened yet.

Twenty million? Can we afford to be that welcoming?

Yes we can, Wellborn said, because there is no tax money being used.

So who’s paying the tab? You know those signs along the interstates that tell you what’s available at the next exit? They list gas stations, lodging, restaurants and such. A company called Georgia Logos puts up those signs, charges the companies to be on them and sends along a portion of that money to the DOT.

“A couple of years ago, the DOT board decided to apply all that money to the welcome centers,” Wellborn said.

All nine welcome centers should be up and operational by the end of the year, then the same funding will be used to renovate and overhaul the state’s 21 rest stops, which will take two or three years, Wellborn said.

“We want the traveling public to have a pleasant experience in our welcome centers and rest stops rather than going away with a negative experience,” Wellborn said. “We’re excited about having a positive impact on people’s travel experience.”

Our welcome center will have a new roof, all new plumbing and light fixtures, repaired potholes, repairs to exterior masonry, pressure-washed sidewalks and all new landscaping. Wellborn estimated that the local renovations cost in the neighborhood of $750,000 to $800,000, which should make it pretty darn welcoming.

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Inquirer: Good news for travelers driving to Columbus."