Statesboro officials plan major road upgrades in response to upcoming housing developments near Burkhalter and Cawana Roads. Proposed improvements include roundabouts and widening projects to address traffic congestion in the southeastern edge of the city. Collaboration with Bulloch County officials is expected.
City of Statesboro map
A map of the eight different housing developments that are proposed.
With more than 1,300 housing units planned around Burkhalter Road, Cawana Road and their connecting arteries in Statesboro, Ga., municipal officials are planning for a series of significant road improvements.
The upgrades have been proposed for recently annexed areas on the city's southeastern edge. With the nearby Georgia Highway 67-Burkhalter intersection already getting a Level of Service grade of "F," the city decided it was time to take action to upgrade the corridor.
Bulloch County officials are offering to collaborate on a plan, according to a recent report in the Statesboro Herald.
Concerns about heavily trafficked roads in the area were first mentioned during a county Board of Commissioners meeting on the morning of June 17, 2025.
Later that same day, in a mayor and council work session prior to a regular Statesboro city council meeting, Assistant City Manager Jason Boyles presented observations about the current status of intersections in the growth area outside the southeastern bend of the U.S. 301/Veterans Memorial Parkway bypass.
Boyles then set out the ideas for Statesboro's proposed improvements.
The city's planning and development office estimated that 1,342 housing units may be built over the next five years in the sprawling area from S&S Railroad Bed Road southwest to Ga. 67, with Burkhalter and Cawana Roads being the high-traffic core, and Herman Rushing Road the most recently annexed area.
A map displayed at Boyles' presentation noted that eight different housing developments are proposed, including:
- the 46-unit S&S Townhomes;
- Cawana Row with 71 units;
- Cawana Bend, 28 units;
- Holly Oaks, 154 units;
- the Outpost, 206 units; and
- "Burkhalter Intersection 1" with 240.
In addition, across Burkhalter Road to the southeast, "Burkhalter Intersection 2" is planned to have 399 units; and the recently annexed "Herman Rushing Townhome" complex is projected to encompass 198 units.
"Development is also anticipated by the county on multiple properties in the area that have not been annexed," Boyles said to the city's executive work session.
He also mentioned Brannen Street — which connects the southeast-side perimeter area to commercial centers and residential developments to the north closer into town — as contributing to the traffic flow.
Improvements Planned at Several Sites
If all goes as planned, Statesboro's proposed traffic construction will start on the north end of the city with two roundabouts: one on Brannen Street at Cawana Road, and another on S&S Railroad Bed Road at its Cawana Road intersection.
Other improvements under consideration are to the southeast on the Burkhalter Road-Harville Road corridor. They include the installation of a roundabout at the Cawana Road-Burkhalter Road intersection and the widening of Burkhalter from Herman Rushing Road to Ga. 67, a distance of 3,550 ft.
In addition, city planners want to widen Burkhalter Road across Ga. 67 and out of the city limits to the existing county roundabout that gives drivers the choice of continuing southwestward on either Langston Chapel Road or Harville Road.
Boyles referred to traffic impact studies completed in 2024. The analyses are required in some cases by the City of Statesboro on recommendations from its planning and development staff, although the city itself has not conducted such a study, according to the Herald.
"However, there have been multiple traffic studies on Burkhalter and Cawana Roads by the developers of the residential properties, many of which are under the same lead engineering firm," Boyles said in a reply email to the local newspaper. "Wilburn & Maldino [a traffic engineering consultancy firm in Newnan, Ga.] prepared most of the studies and they have updated [them] as additional developments have moved forward."
Southeastern Engineering Inc. in Marietta prepared the study for Cawana Bend Townhomes, he noted, while adding, "City and county engineering staff have reviewed each of the studies for approval."
Key Intersection Received an ‘F' Grade
A study for the Ga. 67-Burkhalter Road intersection found that the average delay (the time that drivers remained stopped before being able to proceed) was 87 seconds The current Level of Service rating for the intersection during the peak afternoon to evening traffic hour, as determined by engineers who did the study, was an "F."
"Which is failing," Boyles said.
If no roadway improvements are made, the intersection's average delay would likely increase to 202 seconds (or 3 minutes and 22 seconds) after the new home construction in the area is completed, he reported. That means drivers and their passengers would be in for quite a wait before a green light or a break in the traffic could allow them to make a turn.
Boyles said that adding a left-turn lane and a right-turn lane on Burkhalter Road westbound, a right-turn lane on Harville Road eastbound, and a right-turn lane on Ga. 67 northbound and southbound would improve the intersection's Level of Service to a "D," with 40 seconds of delay after the residential developments are finished.
Meanwhile, the Cawana Road intersection with Burkhalter Road currently rates a "C" for its Level of Service, but that is projected to deteriorate to an "F" after all the new housing is built if there are no roadway upgrades, he reported. By adding a roundabout at that junction, it is expected to function at level "B" after the developments are near capacity, Boyles told the Herald.
Scheduling Efforts Are Moving Forward
Roundabouts for the intersections of Cawana Road at Brannen Street and Cawana at S&S Railroad Bed Road are "currently in the design phase," but right of way acquisition has not yet gotten under way. Statesboro's fiscal year 2026 budget has $3.3 million earmarked for the projects, with construction estimated to begin in the spring of 2026 and be completed in mid-2027.
Boyles noted that both intersections are partially on county right of way, but approximately 80 percent of the Cawana Road right of way is in Statesboro.
City staff also is developing an RFP for the design of the Cawana Road-Burkhalter Road roundabout. Statesboro has only $250,000 in its 2026 budget for the road project, but $2.5 million in its capital improvements budget for fiscal 2028.
Design work should begin this fall and right of way acquisition in Spring 2027 for construction in fiscal 2028 (between July 2027 and the end of June 2028). The Cawana-Burkhalter intersection is currently on the county's right of way, meaning project coordination with Bulloch County officials will be required.
The Burkhalter Road widening would appear to be the largest of Statesboro's upcoming road improvements, but its current budget amount is almost identical to that for the roundabout. In fact, the Burkhalter-Cawana roundabout will need to be completed with the Burkhalter widening project, Boyles said.
City staff also is drafting an RFP for the design of the Burkhalter Road expansion with $300,000 in the budget for fiscal 2026. Another $2.5 million is slated for the fiscal 2027 budget, with construction projected to begin in Spring 2027 for completion in mid-2028.
At the June 17 meeting, David Bennett, chair of the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners, spoke of the need to make improvements in what he called "the Burkhalter-Harville-Langston Chapel Road Corridor," in coordination with Statesboro city officials.
"There are several intersections in there, particularly the one there at [Georgia] Highway 67, that [are] a constant problem," he said. "There's a lot of growth that's coming through that area right there, and what we would like to do is start a master plan for how you fix all of the problems there between … [Georgia] Highway 24 and U.S. 301 on that corridor of roads.
"What we would really like to do is reach out to the city and collaboratively come up with a solution for all of the issues," Bennett said. "A plan that we can develop together that's beneficial for everyone in the county so that it's not only easier to travel in that part of town but so we can get fire [trucks] and EMS [personnel] where they need to go."
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