Phase 1 Archaeological Resources Survey of West Gwinnett Street

On January 20, 2010 Brockington and Associates, Inc. conducted Phase I archaeological resources survey of proposed widening and improvements of Gwinnett Street in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. These investigations were carried out for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), through a subcontract with Hussey, Gay, Bell & De Young Environmental, Inc., in partial fulfillment of guidelines established by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. GDOT Project CSSTP-0007-00(402) involves widening of 0.40 mile of Gwinnett Street. The project begins approximately 114.3 meters (375 ft) west of the intersection of Gwinnett Street with Stiles Avenue and extends easterly to the intersection with West Boundary Street and the 1-16 southbound ramp, at which point the roadway would connect to an existing four-lane divided section. The approved project concept consists of widening Gwinnett Street to a 4-lane divided highway with a 6.1-meter (20-ft) raised median and Type A median crossovers at median openings. The roadway would have curb and gutter and 1.5-meter (5-ft) wide sidewalks on both the north and south sides. A new bridge would be provided to cross over the Springfield Canal. Right turn lanes would be provided at the southbound I-16 ramp and at Stiles Avenue. U-turn capacity would be provided at median breaks. The area of potential effects (APE), as defined in 36 CFR 800.16(d) is the geographic area or areas within which an undertaking may directly or indirectly cause changes in the character or use of historic properties if any such properties exist. Based on the nature and the scope of the undertaking, the guidance in the GDOT/ FHWA Cultural Resources Survey Guidelines and past experience with similar projects, the Department has evaluated and defined the APE for this proposed project. Because of the nature and scope of the undertaking, the area of potential direct effects consists of the existing and proposed right-of-way of the project corridor within which all ground disturbing activity would be confined. An additional area of 30 meters (98.4 ft) was also surveyed beyond the known APE for preliminary engineering purposes, conforming to the guidelines of GDOT's Environmental Procedures Manual (2008:3.1.6). Brockington personnel used background research and cultural resources survey to identify potentially significant resources within the project's APE. Background research identified no previously identified archaeological sites within or adjacent to the APE. Fourteen previously recorded archaeological sites are located with a 1.6-km (1.0-mile) radius of the project corridor, but none of these archaeological resources are located within an area of direct or indirect effects for the proposed project. The archaeological resources survey verified that modern development has heavily disturbed much of the project corridor. During this investigation, Brockington recorded one site (9CH1229). Site 9CH1229 is a scatter of nineteenth and twentieth-century artifacts and modern rubbish. The site is located directly south of the 1000 block of Gwinnett Street. Site 9CH 1229 shows extensive disturbance and redeposition, with no preserved contexts. The NRHP eligibility of Site 9CH 1229 is unknown. However, the portion of the site within the APE of the current project does not contribute to the site's overall eligibility; therefore, the project will have no adverse effect on this or any other archaeological resources on or eligible for listing on the NRHP. We find no other cultural resources issues of concern and recommend that the undertaking be allowed to proceed..