Georgia

[codyg1985]

New triple left turn intersection in Alpharetta.


Be well,

Bryant

I would like to see an 18-wheeler negotiate the center left turn lane in that video.

[Bryant5493]

New triple left turn intersection in Alpharetta.


Be well,

Bryant

I would like to see an 18-wheeler negotiate the center left turn lane in that video.

Indeed. It would be a tight turn, to say the least.


Be well,

Bryant

[Grzrd]

Here is the Freight Improvement Project Recommendations from the 2010-2050 Georgia Statewide Freight and Logistics Plan that was prepared by Cambridge Systematics for GDOT.  I was interested in their studies of alternative bypasses: Chattanooga Bypass, Four-Laning US 27, Western Bypass, Northern Bypass, and a Macon-LaGrange Connector (map at Figure 2.4, page 2-12 of document; page 24/68 of pdf).  I'm still poring through it, but thought I would go ahead and post.

[SSF]

The biggest hurdles in completing 27 north of LaGrange will be going up the mountain at Summerville and building the bridges over the lakes just north of Lagrange, the western bypass was part of that ill-conceived toll route notion that was just in the news, I would love the Macon-LaGrange connector as there is no good route currently.

[Grzrd]

Some Georgia lawmakers have filed a bill to require license plates, etc. for bicycles.  With the next elections rapidly approaching, it will probably die, but in the meantime it is stirring up some strong emotions. This blogger suggests that cyclists should borrow a thing or two from the NRA:

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/oct/04/licensing-bicycles-requires-red-state-reaction/

The government can have my bicycle when it pries the handlebar from my cold, dead fingers. Because when bicycles are outlawed, only outlaws will have bicycles ....
House Bill 689, a Republican-sponsored measure that would slap a $15 licensing fee on every bicycle in Georgia that touches public asphalt.
The bill draws no distinction between a $3,000 carbon-fiber wonder and a $50 Wal-Mart special with training wheels. And no more passing that outgrown bike to the next kid in line — not without an official transfer of the 4" -by-7"  license plate, approved by the government ....
H.B. 689 is the handiwork of three Gainesville lawmakers: Carl Rogers, Lee Hawkins, and Emory Dunahoo. It was quietly introduced last spring, and will receive its first — and very likely, last — public hearing on Monday in Hall County.
Cycling enthusiasts have eyed the legislation with sober concern. "There's a lot of interest in this, making sure it's not going anywhere,"  said Brent Buice, executive director of Georgia Bikes, an advocacy group ....
In addition to the license and fees, the bill would require cyclists to ride in groups no larger than four, in single file, with four feet of space separating each rider.
Oh, and communities would be able to bar cyclists from whatever roads they choose ....

[Stephane Dumas]

The current end of the Sugarloaf parkway at GA-316 is covered by Google Streetview http://goo.gl/maps/uIlma

[Grzrd]

GDOT awarded an approximate $73 million contract for the Jimmy Deloach Connector today:

The Port of Savannah's long-anticipated "last mile"  project - the Jimmy Deloach (Parkway)
Connector — moved closer to reality today as the Georgia Department of Transportation awarded a $73 million
contract for its construction ...

This article reports that a groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 17 for the  Jimmy DeLoach Parkway Connector:

Gov. Nathan Deal – golden shovel in hand – led state and local leaders Thursday afternoon in kicking off construction of a key transportation infrastructure component for the Port of Savannah.
The much-anticipated Jimmy DeLoach Parkway Connector, a critical "˜Last Mile' project for the port, will directly link Interstate 95 and Georgia Ports Authority's Garden City Terminal, taking thousands of big trucks a day off busy westside roads ....
When Savannah's harbor deepening project is completed, Deal said, he expects even more truck traffic, as shipping companies employ larger container ships to move their cargo through an expanded Panama Canal.
"That's why this project is so important to us,"  he said. "Companies using those new, larger ships will need cost-effective and time-efficient methods of transporting goods to and from the port. Our state has worked hard to make sure they have exactly that ....
The $72.8 million, 3.1-mile DeLoach Connector will extend the current DeLoach Parkway to Ga. 307/Bourne Avenue near the port's main gate. Once completed, the estimated 8,000 trucks that visit the port each day will have a limited-access, four-lane route directly to and from I-95, effectively reducing traffic on busy Ga. 21/Augusta Highway ....
The DeLoach Connector will be built east of and roughly parallel to Ga. 21. It will include the construction of six new bridges, new interchanges at Grange Road and Pierce Avenue and some 25 acres of wetlands mitigation.
Work is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2016, said Ann Purcell, the transportation board's member from the First Congressional District.

I wonder if it is destined to become an I-x95 one day?

Here is a map of the project (page 2/51 of pdf):

[Alex]

GDOT awarded an approximate $73 million contract for the Jimmy Deloach Connector today:

The Port of Savannah's long-anticipated "last mile"  project - the Jimmy Deloach (Parkway)
Connector — moved closer to reality today as the Georgia Department of Transportation awarded a $73 million
contract for its construction ...

Been awhile since I was last on that stretch of GA 21, but when I was it was choked with trucks. This project is a good one. Given that the other portion of Jimmy Deloach Parkway is a county-maintained roadway, is the extension also going to be?

[Thing 342]

I wonder if it is destined to become an I-x95 one day?

I was thinking an eventual extension of I-516.

[Grzrd]

I was thinking an eventual extension of I-516.

It could also become an I-x16 extension from the current Bloomingdale Road/Exit 152 on I-16.  In June, 2013, the Coastal Region MPO considered an amendment to its Long Range Transportation Plan that would add an interchange improvement for I-16/Jimmy DeLoach Parkway (I-16's Exit 152) (page 3/6 of pdf):



The additional project would follow two other projects in the LRTP in the area from US 80 to I-16 of which ROW acquisition is included in the 2013-16 TIP (page 2/6 of pdf):

Chatham County is developing two related projects in the Jimmy DeLoach area — construction of Jimmy DeLoach Parkway Phase II from I-16 to US 80 (PI# 522790) and construction of a new interchange at Jimmy DeLoach Parkway and US 80 (PI# 0007259). The right-of-way (ROW) phases for both projects are programmed in the CORE MPO's FY 2013 - 2016 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Design work for both projects is on-going and funding authorization for ROW acquisition is expected in the near future.
During the project development process, a question was raised by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regarding logical termini of the Jimmy DeLoach Parkway Phase II project. FHWA will not review the Environmental Re-evaluation for the Phase II project until an interchange improvement project for Jimmy DeLoach Parkway @ I-16 is added to the CORE MPO's 2035 LRTP.
In order not to delay the ROW funding authorization for the Jimmy DeLoach Parkway Phase II project, Chatham County does not want to include the interchange improvement at I-16/Jimmy DeLoach Parkway as a part of the Phase II project. Instead, Chatham County agreed to add in the LRTP a project for improvements for the requested interchange at sometime in the future after the Phase II project is opened.

I have reviewed neither the 2013-16 TIP nor the LRTP to see if the projects include upgrading to and/or building the Jimmy DeLoach Parkway from I-95 to I-16 as a controlled access facility (too tired  ).  However, if the plans do contemplate a controlled access facility, and I-516 somehow connects to the new Connector, then "Georgia/South Carolina" I-520 may have a "Georgia Cousin 3di" in I-516 that would begin with an odd number, yet be a "loop" 3di.

[Grzrd]

Given that the other portion of Jimmy Deloach Parkway is a county-maintained roadway, is the extension also going to be?

Interesting question and I asked GDOT in an email.  Their answer:

Thank you for contacting YOUR Georgia Department of Transportation. We received  your inquiry concerning the Jimmy Deloach Connector. You are correct, the  current Jimmy Deloach Parkway is mostly maintained by Chatham County. The Connector will be maintained by the State. However, only the new portion being constructed (from SR 307/Bourne Avenue to Sonny Dixon Interchange) will be maintained by the State. The portion already open to traffic will be maintained by the County, or in some instances, the City of Port Wentworth.

[Grzrd]

This article reports that the latest plan for an outer western bypass of Atlanta passed an initial hurdle by being designated as one of Georgia's designated freight corridors:

Georgia transportation planners want to reduce the number of trucks plying Atlanta highways, a major contributor to chronic traffic congestion, by building a bypass around the metro region.
A proposal to widen two state highways between Macon and LaGrange and four-lane U.S. 27 from LaGrange north to the Tennessee line would carve a giant L-shaped bypass around metro Atlanta.
Supporters say what is being tagged the Export-Import Highway will become critical after 2016, when the deepening of Savannah harbor grows the port's capacity, requiring more trucks to haul containerized cargo in and out of the port. Without an alternative route, the project's backers say, the $652 million harbor deepening would triple Atlanta's truck traffic ....
Prospects for the bypass took a major step forward Aug. 15 when the State Transportation Board voted to include the proposed route among the state's designated freight corridors. The designation will exempt the project from a state law requiring that federal transportation funds be divided equally among Georgia's 14 congressional districts ....
In fact, the proposed Macon-to-LaGrange corridor – coupled with completing the four-laning of U.S. 27 – compared favorably with a series of planned improvements to Georgia's interstate highway system in a cost-benefit study the DOT completed in 2010.
The study found the project would generate $18 for every dollar spent, a return on investment far exceeding plans to upgrade Interstate 85 between Atlanta and the South Carolina line, interstates 75 and 16 from Atlanta to Savannah, and interstates 85 and 20 between Atlanta and the Alabama line.
The Export-Import Highway/U.S. 27 project would cost $480 million, far less than the interstate improvements, while generating an estimated 2,738 jobs and increasing the gross state product by $11.3 billion, according to the study.
Supporters are urging the DOT to undertake a more specific study of the project, which would include nailing down a preferred alignment for the Macon-to-LaGrange highway and doing an environmental-impact analysis. The DOT is looking to create the bypass by widening Georgia 74 and Ga. 109 ....

[lordsutch]

This article reports that the latest plan for a western bypass of Atlanta passed an initial hurdle by being designated as one of Georgia's designated freight corridors...

Honestly that's so far out that it really doesn't count as an outer loop. Plus there's the whole matter of getting from I-16 to Ga. 74 in Macon. Unless this effort displays substantially more thought that GDOT has with GRIP to date (i.e. downgrading from a well-built modern rural expressway to a 35 mph 3-to-5-lane urban decay stripmall fiesta every time it gets near a population center*), it's going to be pretty much worthless.

* See e.g. Ga 96 in Butler, US 80 & Ga. 57 in east Macon, US 1 in Wrens, US 1 near I-520, US 441 in Milledgeville...

[Alps]

I wonder if it is destined to become an I-x95 one day?

I was thinking an eventual extension of I-516.

Would GDOT tear down Garden City to do it, though? I'm thinking it will just stay whatever it is and never connect.

[Grzrd]

I wonder if it is destined to become an I-x95 one day?

I asked GDOT in an email.  Their answer:

Thank you for contacting YOUR Georgia Department of Transportation. We received  your inquiry concerning the Jimmy Deloach Connector. You are correct, the  current Jimmy Deloach Parkway is mostly maintained by Chatham County. The Connector will be maintained by the State. However, only the new portion being constructed (from SR 307/Bourne Avenue to Sonny Dixon Interchange) will be maintained by the State. The portion already open to traffic will be maintained by the County, or in some instances, the City of Port Wentworth.

I decided to send GDOT a followup email about the future possibiity of an I-x95 designation.  There do not seem to be any current plans to do so, but the answer indicates that GDOT would at least entertain a request from the Port and the city/county to do so:

The Port along with the city/county could certainly request that option be  reviewed. For an interstate that would also have to involve the Federal Highway Administration for approval.

[NE2]

Existing Deloach Parkway is not a freeway...

[Grzrd]

Existing Deloach Parkway is not a freeway...

My question:

Since Chatham County/Port Wentworth maintain the current section, does that rule out the possibility that the Jimmy Deloach Parkway from I-95 to the Port could one day be upgraded to interstate-grade and be designated as an I-x95?

Many freeways, in addition to expressways, are not interstate-grade...

[Tomahawkin]

OT, Hey Do You live in GA or Arkansas? Because I notice that you post a lot in threads/posts that regard both states? And BTW the GA D.O.T. was dumb not to widen GA 400 before removing the toll booths. GA 400 will be a total disaster from Cumming to its S. terminus near Brookhaven @ I-85

[Grzrd]

OT, Hey Do You live in GA or Arkansas? Because I notice that you post a lot in threads/posts that regard both states

I do live in Atlanta, Georgia.  My major interest in roadgeekery is in major road projects. I love a good story, and the evolution of a major project makes for a good story, particularly when there are moving parts in several different states. For the most part, the major interstate work in Georgia has been completed.  I post a lot in Arkansas because it has I-49, I-69, Future I-555, and the Future I-30 extension, as well as an extremely interesting DOT in AHTD.

[SSF]

US 27 is pretty much all four lane anyways from LaGrange up to Tennessee.  I assume they would be bypassing Lagrange with a new alignment and going up the mountain at Summerville are the last portions I know that need to be completed.  I think the Summerville portion had at least preliminary engineering done by GDOT D6.

[Stephane Dumas]

For the Lagrange gap, could be possible then they might built the US-27 Lagrange bypass down to the interchange of I-85 with I-185? http://goo.gl/maps/FsGWR

[lordsutch]

For the Lagrange gap, could be possible then they might built the US-27 Lagrange bypass down to the interchange of I-85 with I-185? http://goo.gl/maps/FsGWR

That's the plan, according to the GRIP factsheet. http://www.dot.ga.gov/Projects/programs/roadimprovement/GRIP/Documents/Facts/US27FactSheet.pdf

[Tom958]

Seventies-era official state maps showed a US 27 bypass of LaFayette Summerville starting at the pass and ending a bit north of Trion, roughly within the area of this view.

EDIT: It's on that GRIP fact sheet, too:

The Summerville Bypass extends east of Summerville (Project
ID No. 621082-) from north of CR 325 to CR 329/Silver Hill
Road. Environmental studies are underway. Right of way
funding is scheduled for FY 2015 and construction funding in
FY 2017.

[Tom958]

A project has begun to build an interchange to eliminate the only traffic light on the Athens Perimeter. The signal has been moved to a new road, Trail Creek Street, which I suppose will become the new ramps once the new overpass for Peters St/Olympic Dr. is opened. Or maybe they have something else in mind; Trail Creek Street looks very much like a street rather than a freeway ramp.

[SSF]

The East Hiram bypass opened up late this week, I've driven it once and was impressed by the lack of traffic.  This will be good for Douglasville/South Paulding traffic that is wanting to goto Cobb but didn't want to take Bankhead.

Now the work will shift over to the west bypass and fully 4-laning it I suppose.