In an ongoing effort to provide congestion relief to motorists and efficiently maintain and preserve the integrity and safety of the interstate system, the Georgia Department of Transportation is reconstructing and resurfacing 28 miles of Interstate 85 between the Meriwether county line and SR 74/Senoia Road in Fulton County. The project will include an additional lane and the reconstruction of 17 bridges on I-85 from the Meriwether county line to SR 34 in Coweta County. The rest of the project from SR 34 to SR 74 in Fulton County includes rehabilitation and resurfacing. The pavement is in desperate need of repairs because this area has not been completely resurfaced or rehabilitated since it was originally built and opened to traffic in 1973.

Beginning in August 2008 and lasting through April 2009, the next phase of construction for the section of roadway from SR 34 (exit 47) to SR 74 (Exit 61), the third lane from the inside median barrier will be closed to traffic for complete removal and reconstruction. This will be performed by the combined use of temporary concrete barrier walls and construction barrels. Traffic will be moved to the two left lanes and the far right lane in a configuration that will split traffic and will allow the far right lane to be used primarily as a truck and exit lane. This section of roadway is 14 miles long, so it will be necessary to divide the shifts into short sections. For example mile marker 47 to 51 will be completed first, 56 to 61 will be completed second and 51 to 56 will be completed third. This order will provide intermediate traffic shifting as opposed to 14 miles of continuous interruption.

For the most southern section of the project (from the Meriwether county line to SR 34 in Coweta County), construction will be conducted in seven mile increments with emergency pull-offs approximately, 6,000 feet apart within the work zone. Traffic will be shifted to the two newly constructed inside lanes, southbound, in this section beginning Aug. 1 and northbound Oct. 15. Traffic will remain in this configuration until the outside lanes have been replaced.

The end product of this work will include elevated bridges, a paved and permanent concrete median barrier, an additional lane from the Meriwether county line to SR 34 in Coweta, guardrail replacement and overgrown vegetation removal from both sides of the roadway.

login to post comments