Work on a long-awaited road project is progressing faster than expected, Effingham County commissioners learned last week.

Phase I of Old Augusta Road is going ahead of schedule, interim county administrator David Crawley said.

“Very much so,” he said, adding the first could be done by November or December. Commissioner Verna Phillips, in whose district the project lies, said she recalled paving of the first phase wasn’t likely to happen until the first quarter of 2009.

“They want to pave it as quickly as they can,” Crawley said.

Phase I will stretch from Highway 21 to Chimney Road, a distance of about 2.75 miles. The plans call for two 12-foot lanes with right-of-way for four lanes. The approximate cost for phase I is $4.9 million.

That section of road is closed to traffic currently.

On phase II, the county will be sending a follow-up letter to Georgia-Pacific to see if the company wants to participate in sharing the costs of that stretch, will be a little more than 4 miles long from Chimney Road to Fort Howard Road.

Georgia-Pacific has requested additional information from the county before deciding to participate.

Survey and alignment work is finished on phase II and right-of-way acquisitions and state approvals could take another 10 to 22 months. Preliminary costs for phase II were $7.5 million.