New Georgia State Patrol Post Opens January 1

And as the new year begins, a new Georgia State Patrol post opens.

The long awaited Post 52 in the Gateway II Industrial Park in Lavonia opens tomorrow, January 1st.

GSP had been searching for a couple of years for a suitable location for the new post and State GSP Commander Tommy Waldrop said it’s exciting to have the it finally open.

“It is, and Sgt Whitworth and his crew have already done a lot to get it done in their partnership with the county, ” Waldrop said. “It’s going to be  great for the area, especially for the I-85 corridor there coming into the state.  It’s going to be an asset to have those troopers in that area.”  

Post 52 will be commanded by Sgt. Al Whitworth, former commander of the Toccoa Post.  Sgt Whitworth will be commanding 14 full-time troopers and one civilian employee.  Waldrop said the new post will be open for public access on Friday.

“It will be just like a normal patrol post,” he said. “It’s a very good design. there’s no wasted space. It’s the old style patrol post and I think people will like it.”

Waldrop said an official open house and ribbon cutting will take place sometime in the spring.

“The county and Sgt Whitworth will be getting together to coordinate something,” Waldrop said. “I don’t know an exact date yet, but I think they want to let it get a little warmer first. It will be open for the public when that happens.”

The new Post 52 will cover Franklin, Hart, and Elbert counties.