THOMASVILLE —A well-used thoroughfare in Cairo is expected to be the recipient of some much-needed improvements, city officials said Monday.

The road, 17th Avenue Northwest, was recently approved in Gov. Sonny Perdue’s certification of $65.8 million in transportation projects under the “1511 Certification” that will be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The approved Cairo project is along 17th Avenue from Ga. 93 to U.S. 84. Stimulus funds awarded for it total $61,224, to be used for “resurface and maintenance.”

“This road really needs resurfacing,” Public Works Director Raymond Stokes said Monday. “It has a lot of pot holes and it has been years since it was paved.”

Stokes said the road used to have “a lot of heavy truck traffic” the city eventually cut out.

“It was a shortcut from North Broad Street over to U.S. 84, and a lot of truckers would take it,” he said. “The pavement itself is worn down. Usually, there is about an inch or two of wear layer on a road, but no asphalt is made to last forever. It gets down to the base layer and has to be resurfaced, much like wear on a tire tread.”

Perdue, in a recent news release, said these projects “will bring safety improvements and needed maintenance and support to roads, intersections and bridges around Georgia.”

“The federal funds will make our roads safe and strengthen our transportation network,” he said.

City Manager Chris Addleton expects the Georgia Department of Transportation to send the project out for bid Dec. 11 with work starting sometime in the first quarter of 2010.

“We’re happy to be receiving some stimulus funds for this project,” he said.

The city intends to do a few improvements before the state paving project begins, Addleton said.

An agenda item for Monday’s Cairo City Council meeting was to consider road widening contractor quotes for 17th Avenue.

“We want to widen the road before it is resurfaced,” the city manager said. “We should have some sort of action on that item tonight.”

For more information, visit Georgia DOT’s stimulus Web site at www.dot.state.ga.us/gastimulus.