Construction on an expansion to State Road 55 in Georgiana is currently on schedule, officials say.

Rebecca White, ALDOT spokesperson, said the project has been underway since May 2009.

“The relocation includes grading, draining, partial base and pave and the installation of a bridge,” White said.

The project, White said, will relocate State Road 55 to run from two miles south of Georgiana to State Road 106. It will add 4.66 miles of road and cost an estimated $6.9 million.

Georgiana Mayor Mike Middleton said progress is going slow.

“Over the last seven or eight months, they’ve only been able to work part of the week because it has been so wet,” Middleton said. “It’s a good thing the weather has straightened out so they can work 5 days a week now.”

Newell Builders out of Hope Hull is handling the construction. It is expected to take 300 working days, or about two calendar years to complete.

Middleton said the road would be good for Georgiana in the long run. Businesses could be built out along the new four-lane and traffic from beach-goers could bring more business to the city.

Once the road is completed, another contract will have to go out for bid to lay the asphalt. Middleton said the last he heard, builders would wait 18 months after the road’s completion before the asphalt contract would be let.