Friday, Apr. 22, 2005

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Hwy. 54 traffic to change Tuesday

Starting Tuesday, traffic patterns in west Peachtree City along the Ga. Highway 54 corridor will change significantly due to the road widening project, according to officials with the Georgia Department of Transportation.

From the CSX railroad bridge all the way to Wynnmeade Parkway, traffic will be reduced to one lane traveling in each direction and a center turn lane, officials said.

All three of the lanes will be shifted to the north side of the road, closest to the Wal-Mart and Home Depot shopping center, DOT officials said.

The $14 million project should be done by July 2006 and includes the widening and resurfacing of the road in addition to construction of two new bridges: one spanning the railroad and the other spanning Line Creek.

Once completed, the highway will have expanded to two lanes in each direction, and both of the existing bridges will be replaced with new ones wide enough to handle the extra lanes of traffic. The current two-lane bridge over the railroad track, in particular, has been a choke point for vehicles going in both directions. There are also traffic lights near either end of that bridge: one serving Huddleston Road and the other serving The Avenue at Peachtree City and The Marketplace commercial developments.

The finished product will have a grassy median that can be used in later years to add two more additional lanes of traffic if necessary, officials said.