Georgia

[Tom958]

When I last drove through on Monday, the VMS's for the dynamic lane on northbound I-85 between Jimmy Carter and Indian Trail were displaying a test message. Hopefully they're fully operational by now.

[Tom958]

When I last drove through on Monday, the VMS's for the dynamic lane on northbound I-85 between Jimmy Carter and Indian Trail were displaying a test message. Hopefully they're fully operational by now.

Alas, no, not by yesterday.

Check out this post about new signage and new signage policy in the Northwest Corridor area.

[afguy]

Renderings of the I-285/Camp Creek Pkwy DDI in East Point...

SR 6/Camp Creek Parkway at I-285 is presently an overpass comprised of two eastbound and westbound travel lanes with signalized single left turn lanes and unsignalized right turn lanes, each proving northbound and southbound access to I-285 from SR6 in both directions. This proposed project will reconstruct the interchange at I-285 and SR6/Camp Creek Parkway to incorporate a Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI). The proposed typical section for SR 6/ Camp Creek Parkway will maintain the existing four 12-foot travel lanes in each direction from the interchange. Improvements along Camp Creek Parkway will include pedestrian upgrades and lighting on the east side of the interchange.

Interstate 285/Camp Creek Pkwy DDI-East Point by brandon walker, on Flickr

Interstate 285/Camp Creek Pkwy DDI-East Point by brandon walker, on Flickr

[emory]

Here's a good NY Times piece on how rising ocean levels are forcing the closure of US 80 from the mainland to Tybee Island, GA due to constant flooding from high tides.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/science/flooding-of-coast-caused-by-global-warming-has-already-begun.html?smid=tw-share&referer=

[lordsutch]

Found this article via TollRoadsNews: Henry County fire department gets look at new I-75 express toll lanes. There are some new details in the article:

There will be a two-hour window each day for the lanes to switch from northbound to southbound, beginning at 11 a.m. The lanes will switch back northbound at 10:30 p.m. Barrier arms will be in place to keep motorists from exiting at the wrong place, Thompson said.

Three emergency drills are scheduled for October, followed by three in November, and at least one in December. The express lanes are still scheduled to open in January.

[Tomahawkin]

So, the I-75 toll lanes south of the 675 interchange are supposed to be open in January??? I was down there 2 months ago and it looked like the were way behind? Does anyone have any updates or pictures. I work at Vogtle, this time of the year, therefore I'm not in the area much. Also updates are needed on the toll lane construction by the new braves park. That area is going to be FUBR. Since there was no consideration of Marta to the area. Which was seriously needed but neglected. Typical conservative f'd up Georgia politics. SMFH

[afguy]

A new access point is being planned for Fort Gordon to make way for Army Cyber Command. Army Cyber Command will bring 4,600 new jobs to Augusta by 2019.

This project will widen US 78/US 278/SR 10/Gordon Hwy to four 12-foot travel lanes with a 44-foot depressed grass median and 10-foot outside rural shoulders from approximately 550 feet southwest of the intersection of Gordon Hwy with SR 223/East Robinson Avenue and 19th Street to a proposed roundabout that will intersect with the new Fort Gordon ACP/Gate 6 roadway (which will be constructed as a separate project by Fort Gordon). The proposed intersection type will be a two-lane roundabout, chosen to accommodate the anticipated traffc volume demands resulting from anticipated changes to Fort Gordon's access plan. The length of the proposed project is approximately 1.6 miles

Gordon Highway Improvements-Augusta by brandon walker, on Flickr
https://gtas.dot.ga.gov/0013248/Concept%20Report/0013248_CR_JUN2016.pdf

[Tom958]

Would that be Georgia's first multilane roundabout?

[lordsutch]

Depends on when it's built. I know there are two multilane roundabouts proposed in Bibb County - one on US 80/GA 22 just east of where the four-lane section begins at Fulton Mill Road (info here), and more recently one at the US 41/129/GA 11/49/247 clusterf*ck in south Macon. The latter doesn't have a project number yet that I've been able to find - there's a Telegraph story here.

[Tom958]

...one at the US 41/129/GA 11/49/247 clusterf*ck in south Macon. The latter doesn't have a project number yet that I've been able to find - there's a Telegraph story here.

Thanks! That seems like an exceedingly risky place to build a multilane roundabout. 

[lordsutch]

Thanks! That seems like an exceedingly risky place to build a multilane roundabout. 

Let's not invoke Beetlejuice in this thread too, please...

[afguy]

GDOT is planning to widen I-985 from its southern terminus in Northern Gwinnett County to SR 53 in Hall County. The 16-mile stretch will be widened to six lanes beginning in 2022.
http://www.dot.ga.gov/BuildSmart/Projects/Pages/TransPi.aspx?ProjectID=0014130

[D-Dey65]

Renderings of the proposed improvements to I-16...
I-16/I-95 Interchange Reconstruction-Savannah by brandon walker, on Flickr

So northbound I-95 is going to keep the loop ramps? I honestly don't know how I feel about that.

[lordsutch]

So northbound I-95 is going to keep the loop ramps? I honestly don't know how I feel about that.

I assume they're the lowest volume movements by far. That said, it's hard to tell from the rendering but it looks like there's going to be a C/D road added for I-95 northbound.

[lordsutch]

The Oconee river crossing south of Milledgeville on the Fall Line Freeway opens Monday morning (October 17), completing the route, except the stalled portion around Macon due to the cancellation of the Eisenhower Parkway extension across the Ocmuglee River near the Ocmulgee National Monument.  https://twitter.com/GDOTEastTraffic/status/786278066959986688

As far as how it will be signed, it's not clear; no shields were included on the plan sheets and I didn't see any posted the last time I was over in Baldwin County last month. GDOT might finally decide to sign GA 540 or they may just move GA 24 onto the route west to US 441 and GA 243 onto the rest of it. Or they might just leave it unsigned just to confuse people, like they did with the open section from GA 243 east to GA 112.

On Facebook they're claiming it'll have a 65 mph speed limit but all the plan sheets show 55 mph signs; like the Gordon bypass it may initially be signed at 55 until they come out and redo all the signs in a few months.

I'm hoping to be able to get over there Monday morning for the pagentry, such as it is.

[xcellntbuy]

Looks like big "doins" south of my town.  There should be fewer log trucks driving through Milledgeville, as a result.

[lordsutch]

Drove the new section of the Fall Line Freeway today; it is very lacking in reassurance signage but it appears the plan was/is to sign it as an extension of GA 243 from a couple of shields installed southbound (northbound they're all missing). The speed limit signs are 55 mph, as in the design plans. Construction continues on widening GA 24 from there to Sandersville.

It was too dark when I got back to Gray to see how the bypass construction was going exactly but GA 18 west seems to now be diverted onto the new roadway at the western end.

[Buck87]

http://www.newtoncitizen.com/news/local/gdot-to-hold-open-house-oct-for-proposed-i-/article_7b8d3822-24a4-543f-9d11-f09d4ef250ea.html

GDOT looking at the possibility of either a DDI or SPUI at exit 82 on I-20 in Conyers (at GA 138 & GA 20.) According to this article they had an open house for it back on October 11.

My sister lives less than a half mile from that interchange and has to deal with it everyday, and from what little experience I've had with it I've seen it's a pain in the ass, so I hope to see them go ahead with either option.

[Gnutella]

GDOT is planning to widen I-985 from its southern terminus in Northern Gwinnett County to SR 53 in Hall County. The 16-mile stretch will be widened to six lanes beginning in 2022.
http://www.dot.ga.gov/BuildSmart/Projects/Pages/TransPi.aspx?ProjectID=0014130

Needs it badly. Hopefully they can straighten out a few curves too.

[Eth]

http://www.newtoncitizen.com/news/local/gdot-to-hold-open-house-oct-for-proposed-i-/article_7b8d3822-24a4-543f-9d11-f09d4ef250ea.html

GDOT looking at the possibility of either a DDI or SPUI at exit 82 on I-20 in Conyers (at GA 138 & GA 20.) According to this article they had an open house for it back on October 11.

My sister lives less than a half mile from that interchange and has to deal with it everyday, and from what little experience I've had with it I've seen it's a pain in the ass, so I hope to see them go ahead with either option.

I used to live in Conyers and can confirm, it's a complete nightmare, particularly in conjunction with the nearby signal at Dogwood Dr. There's plenty of through traffic on GA 20/138 (particularly people south of I-20 accessing the WalMart shopping center), so I'd probably go with a SPUI as the better solution here.

[Tom958]

GDOT is planning to widen I-985 from its southern terminus in Northern Gwinnett County to SR 53 in Hall County. The 16-mile stretch will be widened to six lanes beginning in 2022.
http://www.dot.ga.gov/BuildSmart/Projects/Pages/TransPi.aspx?ProjectID=0014130

Needs it badly. Hopefully they can straighten out a few curves too.

I'm genuinely surprised by this. I wonder if it'll be a simple widening like what they're doing on 400 or a full reconstruction as is planned for 85. I was also surprised by the decision not to provide direct access from 985 to the HOT lanes on 85. With more lanes on 985, that may become a matter of great regret.

[brownpelican]

A few miles east, though is this spectacular bifurcation. The older roadway, now used for eastbound traffic, passes under a railroad, then over a creek. For whatever reason, the newer roadway, c. 1995, passes over both, leading to a huge and scenic difference in elevation. The last time I was through here was when the new bridge was under construction, when today's green overgrowth was a sea of red clay. The new bridge itself is just AASHTO beams, of course, but its height alone is spectacular, and it has T-shaped columns, which I'm a total sucker for:

I haven't drove that stretch of road since 2006!!! So they're doing more work on Ga. 72 near Comer? I still say that road will be four-laned to join SC 72's four-laned section. The entire road (Athens-Rock Hill) will eventually be widened in full. IMO.

[afguy]

The 16.6-mile portion of the 441 widening in Morgan and Oconee counties was on ice for two decades, but now the state has a lot more money to spend on construction. Thanks largely to increased fuel taxes and new fees, the Georgia Department of Transportation's motor fuel revenues have roughly doubled in two years, from about $1 billion in the 2015 fiscal year to nearly $2 billion in the 2017 fiscal year, according to the state agency's website.
Last year, state road planners fast-tracked the Oconee-Morgan widening, taking it off a list to of projects that would be funded with federal dollars and putting it on a list of projects the DOT will pay for with its new money stream. Getting rid of the federal designation also means the project doesn't have to conform to some federal rules and environmental protections.

http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2016-10-26/big-crowd-turns-out-dot-forum-441-widening-bishop-bypass

[Tom958]

Remember this, the APL that was so confusing that, after a TV news report about the numerous near-crashes it caused, GDOT cut it in two?



Well, it's fixed now-- photos are by Bryant5493. First, the pullthrough:



Then the new exit sign a few days later:

[Alex]

Remember this, the APL that was so confusing that, after a TV news report about the numerous near-crashes it caused, GDOT cut it in two?

The third image does not load.

Have a photo in my collection showing the pre-APL signs from 2012 too.