As work progresses on the first phase of the Independence Parkway, the next steps on where Phase 2 will go could start taking place soon.

Trent Long told Liberty County commissioners that they should be sending out requests for qualifications and requests for proposals to engineering firms soon to do a scoping package for the second phase. The scoping, Long added, helps to identify a route and how much that second phase — which will take the parkway from its end on Highway 119 to Highway 84 — will cost.

The scoping for the second phase of the Independence Parkway, also known as the Hinesville bypass, will require two public meetings. The selected firm also will have monthly meetings with local officials, make presentations to the Hinesville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s policy and technical committees and to the board of commissioners.

“We will have a lot of input as it goes forward,” Long said.

The scoping also requires intensive and extensive research on environmental impacts and how it might affect those who are economically disadvantaged. Long noted there is about $1.5 million set aside for the phase 2 scoping.

“It is usually pretty expensive process,” he said.

Scoping for phase 1, which is now under construction, started in 2005, Long added. No route has been determined for phase 2, and the scoping project will go a long way toward determining that.

“We don’t have an idea where it is going to go,” Long said.

The scoping’s results also could help county figure out how to find funding to build the remainder of the bypass. Long said he hoped they could secure funding from the state Department of Transportation for the second phase.

Phase 1, currently under construction, is about 2.6 miles long and will cost approximately $35 million. It will have two 12-foot lanes with 10-foot shoulders, and it includes a 1,865-foot-long bridge over the CSX railway.

The purpose of the bypass’ first phase is to improve regional travel through Liberty County while also accommodating local traffic in Hinesville and Walthourville. A traffic study completed in 2010 identified the need to shift regional traffic away from the section of Highway 84 that travels through the center of Hinesville. According to the travel demand model, approximately 35% of the traffic currently on Highway 84 in Hinesville is regional. Commercial development and the large number of driveways in Hinesville also impact the highway’s ability to serve as a thoroughfare and increase congestion within the city.

The expected completion date for the first phase of Independence Parkway is December 2027.