AASHTO Journal, 3 October 2014
After more than two years of closing lanes overnight to widen Georgia’s State Route 347 at Buford, northeast of Atlanta, the Georgia Department of Transportation last week opened the full 1.7-mile, four-lane section to traffic two months early.
“We are proud to finish this project and be out of your way,” said GDOT district engineer Brent Cook.
The $11.6 million project was on a busy stretch of highway that serves the sprawling Lake Lanier recreation area, and construction had to be done while maintaining traffic flows on the route. Its completion well ahead of the Nov. 30 contract date also means visitors can use the widened roadway this year for a Thanksgiving lighting attraction at the lake that is a popular annual tourism event.
Cook said while the new lanes are completed, “there will be occasional daytime lane closures as punch list items are completed,” along with several weeks to cure the new asphalt and put down final lane striping. Meanwhile, he urged motorists to “please slow down and pay extra attention as people get used to the using the newly widened roadway.”
