Royston’s $6 million gas-pressure project is 85% complete, city says

Royston’s $6,025,471.61 Natural Gas Pressure Improvement Project was about 85% complete and on schedule as of April 21, 2026, City Manager reports said. The city had pressure-tested new line running from Hill Street to near the Highway 145 intersection in Franklin Springs, marking progress on a project intended to strengthen gas pressure across an area extending through Franklin Springs and along Highway 145.

The project is a major utility investment for Royston: City officials have described its high-school-area regulator station and related line work as a way to increase supply-side gas pressure. In December, the city said the first main-line pressure increase from Bowman had raised pressure by about 12%, while a further increase was intended to bring total capacity growth to 25%. Whether that second step occurred remains unresolved in the city records through April.

The work moved from planning to construction over 2025. In January, Royston said it had hired Carter & Sloope to manage the bid process while designing and preparing to build a regulator station near Franklin County High School. Council then approved $19,326 in station materials in February. After bids were opened June 17, council unanimously awarded Southern Pipeline LLC the larger construction contract on July 8; a notice of award followed by August, when the city said the station had been constructed and was ready for installation.

City Council set the project in motion through its materials approval and its 6-0 contract vote, while the city’s operations reports have provided the public progress updates. Southern Pipeline LLC is the contractor selected for the $6 million project. The city has reported that the high-school regulator station was complete by December and that work was then concentrated in Franklin Springs and northwest along Highway 145; the records do not include a separate public statement from Southern Pipeline or from affected residents.

Several pieces of the work are documented as completed: the regulator station and the initial roughly 12% pressure increase were reported in December, and the new line segment cited in April had been pressure-tested. The broader project, however, was not described as finished. Its reported progress rose from about 60% in December to about 85% in April, both described as on schedule. The 25% total-capacity figure was a target tied to a planned second pressure increase, not a confirmed result.

The next meaningful public milestone is a later city record showing whether the remaining construction was completed and whether the second pressure increase took place. No final completion update appears in the records through April 21, 2026, and no date is given for the unfinished work. Residents can therefore see substantial construction and testing reported, but not yet a documented conclusion to the full pressure-improvement project or confirmation of its intended 25% total capacity growth.