Georgia

[Gnutella]

GA 316 UPDATES

The GA 81 interchange is almost complete. The overpass has opened to traffic, as have the westbound off-ramp and eastbound on-ramp. Carl-Bethlehem Road is the temporary detour for eastbound GA 316 traffic to access GA 81, and southbound GA 81 traffic to access GA 316, while the final pieces of the eastbound off-ramp and westbound on-ramp are completed. Oddly, the interchange has been numbered Exit 5. Why not Exit 24?

It appears that the Harbins Road interchange will involve collector/distributor lanes. A set of bridge piers have been built in the median of GA 316, but another set of bridge piers has been built off the outer shoulder of the eastbound lanes, with the retaining wall another 30' or so beyond them.

A LOT of trees have been cleared in the vicinity of GA 11, and a large embankment has been built on the eastbound side of GA 316. The clear-cutting has exposed a small frontage road on the westbound side that follows the lay of the land, apparently named Wise Men Lane. The plan is to extend Exchange Boulevard east from Harry McCarty Road to GA 11 as a frontage road.

Not much seems to have happened at GA 53 in recent weeks, though gravel has been put down where the eastbound off-ramp will go.

GDOT really needs to build overpasses for Carl-Bethlehem Road and Harry McCarty Road. It'd allow for fully-controlled access on GA 316 between Kilcrease Road to the west and Harrison Mill Road to the east, a distance of about eight miles.

[Tomahawkin]

I have been saying this for 15 years: GA 316 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Athens. Those outdated bridges in the Duluth/Lawrenceville area need to be rebuilt! I dont know why GDOT has been so stubborn on improving SR 316, Ditto for IH 575

[Eth]

Oddly, the interchange has been numbered Exit 5. Why not Exit 24?

Huh, I didn't realize they were numbering them at all. Certainly exit 5 wouldn't make any sense at all; even assuming sequential numbering a la GA 400 and only counting existing interchanges, surely that would make it exit 6, would it not?

- I-85 (no number)
- Boggs Rd (no number because access is really from I-85)
1. Sugarloaf Pkwy (west side)
2. Riverside Pkwy
3. GA 120
4. Collins Hill Rd/GA 20/GA 124
- several at-grades that I'll assume to be unnumbered
5. Sugarloaf Pkwy (east side)
- several more at-grades
6. GA 81

Right?

[Gnutella]

I have been saying this for 15 years: GA 316 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Athens. Those outdated bridges in the Duluth/Lawrenceville area need to be rebuilt! I dont know why GDOT has been so stubborn on improving SR 316, Ditto for IH 575

I think GDOT is upgrading GA 316 the right way, albeit very slowly. Access control is a higher priority than capacity right now, because access control will make the highway much safer and help traffic to flow much more smoothly, regardless of how many lanes it carries. Widening the highway comes last, after major intersections are upgraded to interchanges, and minor intersections are upgraded to overpasses.

As for outdated bridges in Lawrenceville, the only ones that are are the GA 120 and Herrington Road overpasses, and the mainline bridges over the Yellow River at the Riverside Drive interchange. All of them were built in 1960, except for the GA 120 overpass, which was built in 1979.

As for the number of lanes, I'd say eight lanes from I-85 to Harbins Road, six lanes from Harbins Road to U.S. 78, and eight lanes from U.S. 78 to the Athens Perimeter. Come to think of it, reconfiguring the GA 316/Athens Perimeter/Oconee Connector tangle is going to be a major undertaking too.

[US 89]

I thought sequential numbering wasn't allowed anymore for new exit numbers?

[architect77]

I have been saying this for 15 years: GA 316 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Athens. Those outdated bridges in the Duluth/Lawrenceville area need to be rebuilt! I dont know why GDOT has been so stubborn on improving SR 316, Ditto for IH 575

I think GDOT is upgrading GA 316 the right way, albeit very slowly. Access control is a higher priority than capacity right now, because access control will make the highway much safer and help traffic to flow much more smoothly, regardless of how many lanes it carries. Widening the highway comes last, after major intersections are upgraded to interchanges, and minor intersections are upgraded to overpasses.

As for outdated bridges in Lawrenceville, the only ones that are are the GA 120 and Herrington Road overpasses, and the mainline bridges over the Yellow River at the Riverside Drive interchange. All of them were built in 1960, except for the GA 120 overpass, which was built in 1979.

As for the number of lanes, I'd say eight lanes from I-85 to Harbins Road, six lanes from Harbins Road to U.S. 78, and eight lanes from U.S. 78 to the Athens Perimeter. Come to think of it, reconfiguring the GA 316/Athens Perimeter/Oconee Connector tangle is going to be a major undertaking too.

GDOT is bragging about & touting adding a 3rd lane to I-85 not even to Commerce in the Major Mobility Plan like it's a big deal. Other states continuously are improving hundreds of highways at any given time.

I-85 is beyond in need of being at minimum 3 lanes each way to SC. It is heavily travelled at that 4 lane stretch gets backed up to a standstill every holiday weekend.

So GA316 getting extra lanes is wishful thinking and it will be a long wait.

Gas prices are higher in North Georgia than in NC which has one of the highest gas taxes in the country. Where is the money going? Gov. Deal got it raised 10 cents per gallon so now they ought to have enough money to keep up with other states in terms of road improvements.

I attended 2 of the Express Lanes open houses for I-285 and I tell you, every GDOT representative gave me the impression that they work in a vacuum, trying to operate in their own manner, and they seem clueless as to what the rest of the states' are building to address similar issues.

It would behoove them to study and learn what the top tier states do and how they manage and maintain their infrastructure, though I don't think people here realize how much better things are in other states in anything related to state functioning or stewardship.

I-85 through Gwinnett used to be somewhat attractive, and now it's the sloppiest, most cluttered and ugly interstate stretch in the country. I have repeatedly suggested that they cull and replace the number of old, rusting gantries over the roadway because they are just un-necessary blight that makes our few transit corridors look like crap.

And yet no one complains but me.

[Gnutella]

I have been saying this for 15 years: GA 316 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Athens. Those outdated bridges in the Duluth/Lawrenceville area need to be rebuilt! I dont know why GDOT has been so stubborn on improving SR 316, Ditto for IH 575

I think GDOT is upgrading GA 316 the right way, albeit very slowly. Access control is a higher priority than capacity right now, because access control will make the highway much safer and help traffic to flow much more smoothly, regardless of how many lanes it carries. Widening the highway comes last, after major intersections are upgraded to interchanges, and minor intersections are upgraded to overpasses.

As for outdated bridges in Lawrenceville, the only ones that are are the GA 120 and Herrington Road overpasses, and the mainline bridges over the Yellow River at the Riverside Drive interchange. All of them were built in 1960, except for the GA 120 overpass, which was built in 1979.

As for the number of lanes, I'd say eight lanes from I-85 to Harbins Road, six lanes from Harbins Road to U.S. 78, and eight lanes from U.S. 78 to the Athens Perimeter. Come to think of it, reconfiguring the GA 316/Athens Perimeter/Oconee Connector tangle is going to be a major undertaking too.

GDOT is bragging about & touting adding a 3rd lane to I-85 not even to Commerce in the Major Mobility Plan like it's a big deal. Other states continuously are improving hundreds of highways at any given time.

I-85 is beyond in need of being at minimum 3 lanes each way to SC. It is heavily travelled at that 4 lane stretch gets backed up to a standstill every holiday weekend.

So GA316 getting extra lanes is wishful thinking and it will be a long wait.

Gas prices are higher in North Georgia than in NC which has one of the highest gas taxes in the country. Where is the money going? Gov. Deal got it raised 10 cents per gallon so now they ought to have enough money to keep up with other states in terms of road improvements.

I attended 2 of the Express Lanes open houses for I-285 and I tell you, every GDOT representative gave me the impression that they work in a vacuum, trying to operate in their own manner, and they seem clueless as to what the rest of the states' are building to address similar issues.

It would behoove them to study and learn what the top tier states do and how they manage and maintain their infrastructure, though I don't think people here realize how much better things are in other states in anything related to state functioning or stewardship.

I-85 through Gwinnett used to be somewhat attractive, and now it's the sloppiest, most cluttered and ugly interstate stretch in the country. I have repeatedly suggested that they cull and replace the number of old, rusting gantries over the roadway because they are just un-necessary blight that makes our few transit corridors look like crap.

And yet no one complains but me.

I don't use I-85 south of Duluth very often anymore, but one thing I like that they've done in Gwinnett County is put sod in the interchange gores. Sod doesn't have to be cut as often, if at all, and it just looks better than wild grass. It also makes litter pick-up easier. It might be worthwhile to sod grassy medians too.

My major complaint with GDOT is that major highway intersections are poorly signed. GDOT needs to install big green signs at all junctions with Interstate and controlled-access highways, even on unnumbered local roads. They also need to sign arterial junctions with secondary U.S. and/or state routes more clearly. In Alabama and South Carolina, I know exactly where I'm going on secondary routes. Only in Georgia do I lose track of the route I'm on, which is frustrating, especially if I'm trying to "clinch" a secondary route.

[RoadPelican]

architect77 is absolutely right about GDOT, where is the money going?  In addition to the increased gas taxes in Georgia, the state also has  a $5 per night tax on hotel rooms that is supposed to go to transportation funding, so there should be plenty of money going to GDOT.

[architect77]

I have been saying this for 15 years: GA 316 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Athens. Those outdated bridges in the Duluth/Lawrenceville area need to be rebuilt! I dont know why GDOT has been so stubborn on improving SR 316, Ditto for IH 575

I think GDOT is upgrading GA 316 the right way, albeit very slowly. Access control is a higher priority than capacity right now, because access control will make the highway much safer and help traffic to flow much more smoothly, regardless of how many lanes it carries. Widening the highway comes last, after major intersections are upgraded to interchanges, and minor intersections are upgraded to overpasses.

As for outdated bridges in Lawrenceville, the only ones that are are the GA 120 and Herrington Road overpasses, and the mainline bridges over the Yellow River at the Riverside Drive interchange. All of them were built in 1960, except for the GA 120 overpass, which was built in 1979.

As for the number of lanes, I'd say eight lanes from I-85 to Harbins Road, six lanes from Harbins Road to U.S. 78, and eight lanes from U.S. 78 to the Athens Perimeter. Come to think of it, reconfiguring the GA 316/Athens Perimeter/Oconee Connector tangle is going to be a major undertaking too.

GDOT is bragging about & touting adding a 3rd lane to I-85 not even to Commerce in the Major Mobility Plan like it's a big deal. Other states continuously are improving hundreds of highways at any given time.

I-85 is beyond in need of being at minimum 3 lanes each way to SC. It is heavily travelled at that 4 lane stretch gets backed up to a standstill every holiday weekend.

So GA316 getting extra lanes is wishful thinking and it will be a long wait.

Gas prices are higher in North Georgia than in NC which has one of the highest gas taxes in the country. Where is the money going? Gov. Deal got it raised 10 cents per gallon so now they ought to have enough money to keep up with other states in terms of road improvements.

I attended 2 of the Express Lanes open houses for I-285 and I tell you, every GDOT representative gave me the impression that they work in a vacuum, trying to operate in their own manner, and they seem clueless as to what the rest of the states' are building to address similar issues.

It would behoove them to study and learn what the top tier states do and how they manage and maintain their infrastructure, though I don't think people here realize how much better things are in other states in anything related to state functioning or stewardship.

I-85 through Gwinnett used to be somewhat attractive, and now it's the sloppiest, most cluttered and ugly interstate stretch in the country. I have repeatedly suggested that they cull and replace the number of old, rusting gantries over the roadway because they are just un-necessary blight that makes our few transit corridors look like crap.

And yet no one complains but me.

I don't use I-85 south of Duluth very often anymore, but one thing I like that they've done in Gwinnett County is put sod in the interchange gores. Sod doesn't have to be cut as often, if at all, and it just looks better than wild grass. It also makes litter pick-up easier. It might be worthwhile to sod grassy medians too.

My major complaint with GDOT is that major highway intersections are poorly signed. GDOT needs to install big green signs at all junctions with Interstate and controlled-access highways, even on unnumbered local roads. They also need to sign arterial junctions with secondary U.S. and/or state routes more clearly. In Alabama and South Carolina, I know exactly where I'm going on secondary routes. Only in Georgia do I lose track of the route I'm on, which is frustrating, especially if I'm trying to "clinch" a secondary route.

I have said the same thing for years and years. It's not something that new residents might notice for the first few years of living here but if they cane from even a moderately prosperous state, then they probably had ctiitical informational overheads on secondary routes when they met interstates., and they probably weren't leaning down to the left of right and noticeably not visually level like 80% are here in Georgia.

I told GDOT many times to make them use the apparatus with the water bubble inside when they erect the overhead structures. Some of the most needed locations for overheads are at Lenox Rd at GA400, the one access point for all of Buckhead.  A tiny sign says "SR400" for this super important highway. I guarantee you 50% of drivers couldn't tell you that SR is for "State Road". That is bow some entrances to top end I-285 are signed also off powers Ferry. Most big interchanges with 285 from major thoroughfatres have tiny lane signs with interstate shields & half of them are neglected and faded beyond recognition.

North Carolina has many arrows on overheads that are right-angle shapes that are nowhere to be found here because only interstates have overheads and right-angle arrows aren't ever warranted.


I've gotten many of these replaced over the years after hounding GDOT. The access road up i-85 inside the perimeter got all the overheads replaced because of my repeated requests. The old ones all had faded completely blank, and it was infuriating.

The litter piled up  on all entrance and exit ramps is also the worst of any US city. GDOT on the phone admitted they don't pick up trash on I-20 because they say it will be back a week afterwards. Call me crazy but I don't want to live with trash visible everywhere.But humans are weird, other countries have people mired in trash and it doesn't bother them.

So Georgia's junctions and secondaries are under-signed, but yet they idiotically no longer use cantilevered supports so single overhead signs are mounted to gantries supported on both sides of America's widest freeways. This improper and wasteful practice has cluttered up our freeways and ruined what little attractiveness they had. They cost twice as much and impede views of the sky and trees all unnecessarily. 22 gantries through Cobb on I-75 support a single sign. They can't be burdened with inspecting the bolts on cantilevered supports every few years like the rest of the world manages to do, so there we look like our engineering prowess has reverted to the stone ages. It's the opposite of futuristic looking. We are the only state that does this. I hate it.

[D-Dey65]

The groundbreaking for the new I-95/Belfast Keller Road interchange in Richmond Hill was today. The interchange will open in October 2020.

Officials broke ground on the long anticipated I-95 Belfast Keller Interchange during a ceremony Wednesday outside the South Bryan Administrative Complex.

Proponents say the $18.9 million project will drive economic development, ease congestion on Highway 144 and improve public safety by giving commuters another route to the interstate.

Work is expected to be complete in October, 2020. The project has been talked about for decades, officials said during Wednesday's ceremony.

"I wasn't sure that I would ever see it happen,"  former Bryan County Commission Chairman Jimmy Burnsed said. "We ran into so many obstacles. I knew that it would happen one day, but I didn't know that I would be around to see it."

https://www.bryancountynews.com/news/groundbreaking-new-i-95-interchange-belfast-keller/

So, they should be done with it this month?

[Takumi]

Why is this thread the only sticky one in the board?

[Alps]

Why is this thread the only sticky one in the board?

Regional mods decide which threads to sticky. Blame them.

[Tomahawkin]

Had to go to Lawrenceville this evening at 5:30pm. Can anyone explain why SR 316 isn't 8 lanes total through Gwinnett county? That route needs a total overhaul with toll lanes. That area is one of the fastest growing areas in the Atlanta metro area...Widening 316 is 20 years overdue, IMO

[Tom958]

http://www.dot.ga.gov/AboutGDOT/PublicOutreach led me to...

https://sr-15-sr-10-loop-bridge-replacement-0013716-gdot.hub.arcgis.com/

This is a project to replace the two 1961 bridges at the infamous northeast corner interchange of the Athens Perimeter. Incredibly, the bridges are to be replaced in situ, with the highly unsatisfactory interchange layout apparently to remain as-is. The new bridges will be up to three feet higher than the old ones, partly because the westbound bridge is low enough that it's occasionally hit by trucks (though I see no warning signage on Streetview), partly because the precast concrete beams they intend to use are taller than the steel beams on the existing bridges. 

I know it's naive of me to say this, but I'm genuinely appalled that GDOT won't take the opportunity to address this glaring deficiency in the state's highway system. It's certainly true that this is a difficult site: it looks tight in plan, and the situation is complicated by the fact that the north-south mainline slopes upward significantly to the north, with the east-west axis being even higher. Still, it's hard for me to understand why they couldn't at least do away with the connection to Old Hull Road and convert the parclo layout to a trumpet. Once that rubicon is crossed, perhaps there are other layout possibilities, too. And getting more creative with the bridge engineering could only help with dealing with the vertical alignment challenges.

I wish there was a public meeting about this. I'd totally go.

[Tomahawkin]

I totally agree about GDOT's failure to address state road issues, went by Jimmy Carter Blvd and the DDI at IH 85. The traffic is so bad there it back up to the on ramps resulting into slow ups onto the interstate. That is one among many state routes in Gwinnett that need to be addressed, IMO

[ran4sh]

GDOT probably prefers to maintain access between 10 Loop (Athens Perimeter) and Old Hull Road due to the location of their Athens office.

[Gnutella]

Most of the Athens Perimeter needs an overhaul. The entire Perimeter should be six lanes. The North Avenue/Danielsville Road interchange should be downgraded to a diamond. The U.S. 441/Commerce interchange should be upgraded to a SPUI, with two lanes for both off-ramps. The Chase Street and Tallassee Road/Oglethorpe Avenue interchanges need their ramps lengthened. The U.S. 129/Prince Avenue interchange needs its "outer" (westbound) off-ramp lengthened with two lanes for right-turning traffic, and also two lanes for the "inner" (eastbound) on-ramp. The GA 316 and U.S. 29/Old Hull Road interchanges both need complete overhauls. Thankfully, designs for upgrading the Atlanta Highway and U.S. 78/Lexington Road interchanges exist. The only interchanges that don't need any work are U.S. 129/U.S. 441/Watkinsville, Milledge Avenue, College Station Road and Peter Street/Olympic Drive.

[Tom958]

Most of the Athens Perimeter needs an overhaul. The entire Perimeter should be six lanes.

Ha, I doubt it. In particular, while I'm up in arms about the state of the northeast corner interchange, I must admit that I'm surprised that it functions acceptably at all, with the short weave between the clockwise-to-29 northbound and the counterclockwise loop ramps.

I finally got over my Facebook-induced laziness and uploaded these highly professional drawings to imgur:

Basic concept: Remove access to Old Hull Road, build a semidirect northbound-to westbound ramp on the footprint
of the existing eastbound-to-northbound loop ramp, rebuild that loop ramp immediately inboard of its current location,
and remove the other two loop ramps and the associated short weave. I don't see why this wasn't done in 1979 when
the east side of the Athens Perimeter was completed.


Now, if they're gonna replace the bridges, why not provide an easier curve for the semidirect ramp, like this? Maybe
hold off on replacing the eastbound bridge, since it's not the one that's been hit by trucks.


Ultimate condition, assuming the geometry will work. It might be necessary to address the weave between the North
Avenue onramp and here, which is currently only 1344 feet.

[Roadsguy]

Alternatively, flip the trumpet around from your first concept and realign the bridges to be perpendicular to US 29, allowing the loop to be bigger. This would require more work on the intersections to the north, though.

[Tom958]

Alternatively, flip the trumpet around from your first concept and realign the bridges to be perpendicular to US 29, allowing the loop to be bigger. This would require more work on the intersections to the north, though.

I thought of that, but I'd rather see the northbound-to-westbound movement for Loop 10 outer and US 441 removed from the loop ramp than the eastbound-to-northbound. In fact, I really think it'd be best to provide two lanes for that movement, which would rule out a loop ramp. I don't know how traffic volumes are actually distributed, though, let alone what future projections are.

[D-Dey65]

A couple of issues regarding the northeast end of I-85.

First, there's this unusual sign before the southbound welcome center.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.471144,-83.0667004,3a,75y,285.11h,89.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sIVkzvbvhqvhJYu0GunFOsw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

Then northeast of Exit 177, there appears to be either an abandoned weigh station.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/34.4712951,-83.0663994//@34.4775077,-83.0426463,372m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0?hl=en
So when was that closed?

[Georgia]

Looking at the historical aerials, it closed between 1993 and 2005.  Given the relative look of the 05 aerial, my lean would be in the 90s. 

[ran4sh]

That seems to be the old welcome center. The current one opened in the mid-90s so that's when the old one would have closed. I don't know the specific year though.

[architect77]

A couple of issues regarding the northeast end of I-85.

First, there's this unusual sign before the southbound welcome center.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.471144,-83.0667004,3a,75y,285.11h,89.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sIVkzvbvhqvhJYu0GunFOsw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

Then northeast of Exit 177, there appears to be either an abandoned weigh station.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/34.4712951,-83.0663994//@34.4775077,-83.0426463,372m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0?hl=en
So when was that closed?

All I see is the ridiculous refusal to cantilever overheads anymore and horrible typesetting where none of it is spaced properly on the sign.

I don't think GDOT employees must ever drive through other states to realize how unpolished their guidance signs are here.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Here is a video of the proposed truck lanes on I-75 between Macon and the ATL metro.