Future I-14/GA 540 (Fall Line Freeway)

[Interstate 69 Fan]

I did a search on a thread similar to this one, but it was back from 2009... for I-3?! So, let's start a new one.
What's the status on this parkway through the state? It looks almost complete east of Macon.

[The Ghostbuster]

I have no updates, but I doubt there will be an Interstate 3 or an Interstate 14 (other than the existing one).

[Mapmikey]

I drove this from Wrens to Macon in late September.

There is a small stretch on the GA 24 piece that was not complete - less than 2 miles.  Otherwise it is fully complete as 4-lane highway.

The new segment west leaving GA 24 is signed as GA 243.

Traffic was negligible until it became GA 57.

[sparker]

I have no updates, but I doubt there will be an Interstate 3 or an Interstate 14 (other than the existing one).

The speculation about the Fall Line being part of I-14 was part of a study commissioned (along with the I-3 concept) back around 2001 by a GA congressman whose name I can't for the life of me remember offhand; it was part of a cross-GA route that for some odd reason didn't utilize the west end of the Fall Line from Columbus to south of Macon (mostly GA 96) but instead took a detour to the south along GA 26 (maybe someone's cousin had some property along that route that they wanted to sell to Pilot for a truck stop or something!).  That study essentially went nowhere; the I-3 concept up the east side of GA came up against environmental issues in the north part of the state (besides potentially utilizing the US 129/"Dragon's Tail" crossing of the Great Smokies; not the wisest alignment ever proposed!) and has basically drifted into oblivion since.  The Fall Line would be useful as a E-W bypass of metro Atlanta, but tying all the pieces together via Macon and/or Warner-Robins has posed a multitude of concerns.  IMO, the best approach is to let GDOT figure out the connections before suggesting any further upgrades to the Fall Line; if down the line it makes a viable alternative corridor to I-20, then serious discussion might commence.

[Interstate 69 Fan]

I have no updates, but I doubt there will be an Interstate 3 or an Interstate 14 (other than the existing one).

Uh... I-14's kinda existed since January 2017 in Texas...

[sparker]

I have no updates, but I doubt there will be an Interstate 3 or an Interstate 14 (other than the existing one).

Uh... I-14's kinda existed since January 2017 in Texas...

That would probably be the I-14 segment to which Ghostbuster is referring -- the 25-point-something segment west of I-35.  In the near (15-20 year) term it may well extend east to I-45 or I-69 (some reasonably advanced planning efforts to do so) and, in a longer-term sense, maybe west to San Angelo, all within TX.  The chances of it ever getting over to the Fall Line area are miniscule at best; if some congressfolks in LA and MS have their way, it just might make it over to I-59 in 30-35 years or so.  But AL and GA have their own separate projects on their books that don't involve extending that specific corridor into their jurisdictions.  And anything concerning the GRIP 540 corridor in GA is subject to local planning efforts in the Macon/Warner-Roberts area to somehow plan & deploy a facility between I-75 & I-16; so far, nothing concrete has emerged.  At this point, consideration of the Macon-Augusta corridor as a potential Interstate is at best premature.

[xcellntbuy]

I drove this from Wrens to Macon in late September.

There is a small stretch on the GA 24 piece that was not complete - less than 2 miles.  Otherwise it is fully complete as 4-lane highway.

The new segment west leaving GA 24 is signed as GA 243.

Traffic was negligible until it became GA 57.

Traffic counts on the Fall Line Freeway must be low.  Having moved from south Florida to middle Georgia three-and-one-half years ago, it is not unusual to travel for miles and see maybe a dozen cars in either direction.

[sparker]

I drove this from Wrens to Macon in late September.

There is a small stretch on the GA 24 piece that was not complete - less than 2 miles.  Otherwise it is fully complete as 4-lane highway.

The new segment west leaving GA 24 is signed as GA 243.

Traffic was negligible until it became GA 57.

Traffic counts on the Fall Line Freeway must be low.  Having moved from south Florida to middle Georgia three-and-one-half years ago, it is not unusual to travel for miles and see maybe a dozen cars in either direction.

Until it is assigned one continuous designation (like GRIP 520) -- and it's "advertised" as such, it's likely that the Fall Line will see relatively low traffic counts -- despite its utility as a E-W bypass of metro Atlanta.  I'm guessing that GADot is holding off until that last segment of AR 24 is brought out to 4 lanes -- and/or plans for a Macon bypass have been formulated before signing it as a continuous corridor.  Of course, upgrade/bypassing US 1 between Wrens and I-520 as well as a Wrens bypass of sorts might well be in the offing as well, but likely in the long haul. 

[Mapmikey]

I drove this from Wrens to Macon in late September.

There is a small stretch on the GA 24 piece that was not complete - less than 2 miles.  Otherwise it is fully complete as 4-lane highway.

The new segment west leaving GA 24 is signed as GA 243.

Traffic was negligible until it became GA 57.

Traffic counts on the Fall Line Freeway must be low.  Having moved from south Florida to middle Georgia three-and-one-half years ago, it is not unusual to travel for miles and see maybe a dozen cars in either direction.

Until it is assigned one continuous designation (like GRIP 520) -- and it's "advertised" as such, it's likely that the Fall Line will see relatively low traffic counts -- despite its utility as a E-W bypass of metro Atlanta.  I'm guessing that GADot is holding off until that last segment of AR 24 is brought out to 4 lanes -- and/or plans for a Macon bypass have been formulated before signing it as a continuous corridor.  Of course, upgrade/bypassing US 1 between Wrens and I-520 as well as a Wrens bypass of sorts might well be in the offing as well, but likely in the long haul. 

No reason for GaDOT to wait on that to sign it as (presumably) GA 540, as GA 24 will continue on both sides of its Fall Line Freeway anyway.

[lordsutch]

No reason for GaDOT to wait on that to sign it as (presumably) GA 540, as GA 24 will continue on both sides of its Fall Line Freeway anyway.

When I asked the regional office before the Milledgeville bypass opened, they said there were no plans to assign a consistent number to the route, suggesting that the mooted "GA 540" number has long passed by the wayside if it ever even really existed officially.

I think there's a better case for something like an Alt US 80 designation for the GA 96 corridor from east of Columbus to Fort Valley and continuing east to Allentown, with a separate designation for the Macon-Wrens section - it could all be GA 88, which eventually could be extended/rerouted along any future Macon bypass alignment (realistically the only prospect is to use the proposed Sardis Church/Sgoda crossing) to GA 49.

Route numbering in general doesn't seem to be a high priority in the east central region, since the Gray Bypass opened without a number and so did the recently-built Oconee River bridge northwest of Dublin. I guess we're lucky GA 243 even got extended to GA 24.

[sparker]

Route numbering in general doesn't seem to be a high priority in the east central region, since the Gray Bypass opened without a number and so did the recently-built Oconee River bridge northwest of Dublin. I guess we're lucky GA 243 even got extended to GA 24.

Of all the characteristics attributed to Caltrans, why GaDOT, or at least its sub-region, had to appropriate this one is a mystery to me!