Saturday marks end of I-85/316 work

It wasn’t just a big deal. It was the biggest deal for a while.

And it still is for the tens of thousands of motorists who negotiate the I-85/316 interchange in Gwinnett County daily. The interchange is set for official completion Saturday morning when the Georgia DOT wraps up resurface work on I-85 north from Pleasant Hill Road to Ga. 317. The resurfacing and striping will be the icing on a cake that ultimately took 36 months and $155.4 million to bake.

When the Georgia DOT accepted a bid of $147 million for its construction in November 2005, the interchange was the largest Georgia road project in history. It has since been surpassed in cost by four other road projects. More than 304,000 vehicles travel through the interchange daily.

Here are some notable numbers:

Features

13 bridges — Includiing a new flyover bridge from Ga. 316 westound to Pleasant Hill Road, eliminating the need to cross six lanes of traffic within one mile on I-85 south.

17.5 miles of new HOV lanes — Including 1-85 north from Pleasant Hill Road and Steve Reynolds to Old Peachtree Road

Brick and mortar

10.3 — Miles of barrier walls, enough to run from Ga. 316 south to Pleasantdale near Spaghetti Junction.

475 million — pounds or 11,875 dump truck loads of recycled asphalt used

245 million — pounds or 6,125 dump truck loads of new asphalt used

12.28 — miles of drainage pipe, or enough to run from Ga. 316 south to Chamblee Tucker Road

6 — closed-circuit cameras for Geaorgia 511 realtime traffic information

On the horizon

Interchange at Ga. 316 and Collins Hill. Status: Funded for $57 million, with work to begin in 2010.

Extending HOV lanes on Ga. 316 from the Herrington Road overpass eat to the Brisco Field exit, about seven miles. Status: Not active, but on the books.

Adding an extra lane and an HOV lane on I-85 at I-985 all the way north to the state line. Status: Not active, but on the books.

Angry Bulldog fans

“The best-case scenario (for the future of Ga. 316) would be to have limited access all the way to Athens. I’ve gotten some really ugly emails about that traffic signal on Saturdays — the one at Ga. 20 — saying ‘You all are Georgia Tech engineers, and just don’t want us to get to the stadium.’”

TERI POPE, Georgia DOT spokeswoman