The Georgia Department of Transportation posted this photo of the completed section of Highway 133 at U.S. Highway 319 to its Facebook page June 23. (Georgia Department of Transportation photo by Courtney Peugh)

MOULTRIE — The Georgia Department of Transportation has completed the first portion of its Highway 133 widening between Moultrie and Albany.

The section between the Moultrie city limits and Mike Horne Road was accepted by the GDOT in late June, according to DOT spokeswoman Juanita Birmingham. Traffic had been flowing on the new roadway since April, she said.

The roadway was finished well ahead of the July 4 expected completion date, Birmingham said.

The project had a $99 million total investment by the state DOT, officials said at a May 15 State Transportation Board meeting.

In late June, the speed limit on the newly completed section was set at 65 miles per hour. It’s the only section of the highway from Albany to Valdosta with this speed limit. Birmingham did not know whether other sections were going to be increased to that speed. Currently, most of the route from Albany to Valdosta is 55 mph except through towns and where construction is under way.

The highway is divided into five projects between Moultrie and Albany. This section was the first to be contracted and the first to be completed. Three others are in various states of construction.

The last section, from Mike Horne Road to the Colquitt-Worth county line, was considered for bids in May but was deferred, according to a GDOT news release sent Friday.

Highway 133 between Moultrie and Valdosta was similarly four-laned in multiple projects, the last of which was completed in 2019.