Fayette County will spend upwards of $212,000 for engineering services to build a new bridge over Whitewater Creek for the West Fayetteville Bypass and also realign Westbridge Road and replace the existing bridge on Westbridge Road.

The funds will come from the county’s 2003 transportation sales tax. The winning proposal was from Heath & Lineback Engineers Inc., which had the lowest cost of the seven contractors who submitted a bid, county officials said.

The county commission also Thursday night approved a bid to install culvert pipes and concrete headwalls as part of the second phase of the west bypass. The low bidder was Brent Scarborough and Company at $107,362.

The contracts were approved on a 3-2 vote of the county commission Thursday night. Commissioners Allen McCarty and Steve Brown, who have both staunchly opposed the west bypass, voted against the contracts.

The commission also delayed a decision on shifting federal funds from the third phase of the West Fayetteville Bypass, which is under construction, to the East Fayetteville Bypass, which is in the planning stages.

The delay was chalked up to a postponement at the Atlanta Regional Commission, especially since this week it will be known whether the 10-year 1 percent regional sales tax passed or failed.

If the T-SPLOST is approved, there will be funding available to complete both segments of the East Fayetteville Bypass. If not, the county will consider scaling back the project significantly.

The east bypass would run from Ga. Highway 85 north of Fayetteville along Corinth Road, crossing Ga. Highway 54 east of Fayetteville on a new road path before linking up at County Line Road at McDonough Road and ending at South Jeff Davis Drive and Inman Road.

The west bypass will run from Ga. Highway 92 north of Fayetteville at Westbridge Road, going south a short distance west of Piedmont Fayette Hospital and crossing Ga. Highway 54 before reaching Lester Road, Ebenezer Church Road and Redwine Road. There was initially a plan to have the west bypass connect to Ga. Highway 85 south of Fayetteville at Harp Road, but there is a move afoot to have the road terminate at Redwine Road instead, which would avoid the need to cut across a cattle farm that goes back generations in Fayette County.