Since 2002, David Fowler has been in a dispute with the DOT about relocating the railroad overpass on Martha Berry Boulevard near John Davenport Drive.

Click here to see a Google map of the John Davenport Drive area.
 

The state plans to widen Martha Berry and had originally planned to move the overpass 30 feet to the south.

That would have forced relocation of the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks to and from the trestle and would have damaged the remains of Fort Attaway on the west side of the road — an earthworks fort that local historians say was used in defending Rome during the Civil War.

The revised DOT plans call for a new overpass to be built 18 feet to the south.

The Civil War Commission and the state’s Historic Preservation Division say realigning the railroad tracks there won’t impact Fort Attaway, said David Spear, a DOT spokesman.

“My first reaction was disbelief,” Fowler said.

Throughout the construction project, archaeologists will be on hand to study any artifacts discovered, Spear said. They will have the power to stop the project if a significant discovery is made.

DOT spokesperson Carrie Hamblin said the redesign did not result from any consideration of the fort but instead was a cost-cutting measure.

The redesign will save the state about $200,000 in utility relocations, she said.

The total cost of the widening project is $10.3 million, with the overpass reconstruction expected to cost $1.537 million, according to the DOT. It will be funded by the Federal Highway Authority and the DOT, Spear said.

The DOT hopes the .09-mile widening project will be finished by the end of 2008. No specific timeline has been offered on the rail improvements.