Governor Announces Georgia 400 Improvement Project

Fast Forward Program Accelerates Completion Date

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the widening of Georgia 400 from Holcomb Bridge Road in Fulton County to McFarland Road in Forsyth County – a project that will help to ease congestion and improve safety in the heavily traveled area.

“Georgia is a growing, dynamic state. With that growth comes many challenges, especially in our transportation infrastructure. Today we’re addressing one of the major congestion and safety challenges facing metro Atlanta – Georgia 400,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “I want to applaud GDOT and GRTA for all their work in getting us to this stage. It is with this level of cooperation and coordination that we can move forward in solving some of the transportation challenges facing this region.”

Northbound, the project will add a lane from Holcomb Bridge to Haynes Bridge Road; two lanes from Haynes Bridge to Windward Parkway and then one lane from Windward Parkway to McFarland Road. There will be one additional lane southbound from McFarland to Haynes Bridge.

“GA 400, north of the Chattahoochee River, is one of the most congested corridors in the metro area. One of Georgia DOT’s primary goals is to meet our customer’s needs and I cannot think of a more needed project that would benefit our customers; reduce congestion and improve safety along that corridor,” said Harold Linnenkohl, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).

The $40 million project will be bid on in August 2005 and construction is scheduled to begin in the fall. With additional funding from the Governor’s Fast Forward program, the new lanes will be open to traffic in August 2007.

This much needed improvement will help to smooth the flow of the daily traffic volumes ranging from 163,000 just north of Holcomb Bridge Road to 75,000 just south of McFarland Road. In addition, the project will add median safety devices between the northbound and southbound lanes to prevent errant vehicles from crossing over and crashing into traffic in the opposite lanes. Noise walls will be installed along seven residential areas that will be impacted by the traffic noise.

GDOT and GRTA are currently working to reconstruct the Georgia 400 shoulders. When the shoulder work is completed in September 2005, GDOT will permit the operation of MARTA and GRTA buses on the shoulders. This will allow transit customers to bypass severe traffic congestion.

“Improving mobility in the region is key for GRTA. This project, the current buses on shoulder project, and the proposed further improvements will contribute greatly to improving mobility and safety for drivers, transit riders and every one else who uses the Georgia 400 corridor,” said Steve Stancil, executive director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA).

Additional proposed projects to help improve congestion along the GA400 corridor include:

• HOV lanes – SR400 from I-285 to McFarland Road/Forsyth County
• Interchange improvement – SR400 @ Northridge Road (part of the HOV project)
• Interchange – SR400 from @ Hammond/Abernathy to north of Spalding including collector-distributor lanes
• Interchange reconstruction – I-285/SR400