Opportunities present themselves in a variety of ways. LincolnCounty and Brookhaven leaders continue to seize upon opportunitiesfor projects to benefit the county and city.

Last week, County Engineer Carl Ray Furr lauded supervisors’efforts in taking advantage of a state-funded program to improvebridges.

In the over 10 years the Local System Bridge Program has been inexistence, Lincoln County has seen a total of 29 bridges built,Furr said. Seven other projects are now in the works, and morestate funds are in the pipeline for additional bridge activity.

The amount of bridge activity has placed Lincoln County in thetop five in the state for completed projects, Furr said.

An average of about seven bridges for each of the county’s fivedistricts over 10 years may not sound like a great amount. But thatrepresents 36 overpasses that were replaced with funds that did nothave to come out of local taxpayers’ pockets.

Keep in mind that Lincoln County ranks near the top statewide asfar as the number of bridges in the county. The county’scorresponding ranking in the top five in the area of completedprojects shows that supervisors are capitalizing on an opportunityto address a critical need.

On a similar note in the city, Mayor Bob Massengill andBrookhaven officials have been working diligently to not let anopportunity for a new transportation facility slip away.

The project, which is using federal funds and the donation ofcity property, has moved at a snail’s pace and has been scaled backsince the original idea was proposed more than five years ago.

Massengill last week, though, expressed renewed optimism thatthe facility will become a reality. Amtrak is interested inpartnering with the city for the facility, and transportationservices in surrounding communities may envision it as a pick-uppoint for passengers.

With the city seeking an extension on using the federal funds,it will take a little more time and patience for the transportationfacility to arrive. But city officials appear committed to notletting the opportunity for improvements ride off into thesunset.