The customary Ga. Highway 74 gridlock at I-85 might ease a bit if Fairburn gets its way.

Everyone who travels Hwy. 74 in the vicinity of I-85 knows that traffic congestion is a mess. But that mess is not limited to the south side of the expressway. Fairburn has made a proposal to the Georgia Department of Transportation that would alleviate some of the congestion on the north side of I-85 for motorists traveling south by installing a right turn lane that would provide quicker access to southbound I-85.

Council members adopted a resolution Dec. 12 to authorize the submittal of the Concept Report to GDOT for consideration. If approved, it will be the first step in the process that would allow faster access to southbound I-85 and lessen the backup at the already crowded intersection.

Council members during the summer instructed city staff to pursue the construction of a southbound right turn lane. The first step of scheduling and programming the project for funding was to complete a Concept Report, said City Engineer and Public Works Director Troy Besseche in a Dec. 5 memo.

Besseche said the need and purpose statements of the Concept Report show the primary benefit of the project to be a potential reduction in rear-end collisions. A secondary benefit, he said, would result in some minor reduction in the overall delay of motorists accessing I-85 southbound. Since the proposed project does not simply shift delay to another leg of the intersection, but makes the whole intersection operate more efficiently, the project’s practicality should be apparent to GDOT, he said.

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