Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The city of West Point has had a productive 2024. Mayor Steve Tramell took a look back on the year and discussed what the Georgia city hopes to achieve in 2025. 

One of the most anticipated projects was announced just a couple of weeks before the end of the year. In an interview with VT-N, Tramell announced that a Starbucks location will be coming to Exit 6, near the KIA plant. The popular coffee chain will open sometime in the new year, a specific timeline has not yet been announced.

Two projects that began in 2024 but will wrap up in the first few months of the new year are the construction and repaving of Exit 2 and KIA Parkway. The newly added roundabouts off of Exit 2 are set to finish in February but are operational. The repaving on the parkway will begin as the roundabout construction ends and should be finished by March or April, according to Tramell. 

Also near the exit, the old Coca-Cola building was finally torn down. The company relocated to Auburn after the building was affected by the March 2023 storms. Since then the site has remained vacant. Before being torn down, the city council announced one of the parcels was bought by a hotel chain. 

“I hope to see big things happening on the Coca-Cola site. Looking forward to an announcement that we’ve clinched the deal for a hotel, and then hopefully more to follow on that site,” Tramell said. 

The council also reopened the Ninth Street railroad crossing in June after it was closed due to a sinkhole in Aug. 2023.

Arguably the biggest accomplishment of 2024 for West Point was a $6 million federal appropriation for the water intake. While the project will likely not begin until 2026, it will greatly impact the community once it is done. The appropriate will be used to move the water intake for the city above the Oseligee Creek. This move upstream allows the city’s water intake to avoid much of the mud and silt coming from the creek. 

The mayor expects the city to continue its upward trajectory. 

“More Housing starts in West Point this next year, and just [aim to have] a robust economy benefiting us all,” he said.