After losing its partner for a planned road project, Johns Creek will begin reconstruction of a busy intersection this month.
Crews will widen the intersection of Haynes Bridge and Old Alabama Roads. Haynes Bridge will be widened from two to four lanes and Old Alabama lanes will be reconfigured.
The project also includes adding sidewalks on Haynes Bridge Road from Alvin Road to Berkshire Manor Drive.
Officials say reconstruction of the intersection is needed to relieve traffic. Haynes Bridge Road draws traffic 47% over capacity. The road was built to handle 12,390 cars per day, according to Johns Creek, but instead attracts more than 18,000.
During a Monday meeting, Johns Creek City Council approved a $4 million payment to Summit Construction to perform the work.
The road project has been altered from the city’s original plans. Johns Creek originally partnered with Alpharetta for the widening of Haynes Bridge from Old Alabama to Mansell Road. But Johns Creek’s delays, rising construction costs and residents’ concerns over the impact of the road widening on their neighborhood caused Alpharetta to back out of the agreement last summer.
Crews are scheduled to break ground by the end of June and complete the project by spring 2023.
On Monday, City Council also approved an intergovernmental agreement with Fulton County for the relocation of a county water main on Haynes Bridge Road along the same stretch as the road reconstruction. The work will be completed with the project.
Fulton contributed $1,235,675 to Johns Creek to help with construction costs for the water main relocation instead of starting a separate project. Johns Creek will manage the water main work as an aspect of the overall construction project, city spokesman Bob Mullen said.
Johns Creek is funding the rest of the construction costs using funds from the transportation special purpose local option sales tax approved by Fulton County voters in 2016.
During a May 16 work session, Johns Creek City Council members discussed the possibility of creating bike lanes in addition to the five-foot-wide sidewalks that will be installed on Haynes Bridge Road from Alvin Road to Berkshire Manor Drive. Public Works Director Chris Haggard said there’s no extra pavement for bike lanes on the road and more engineering would be needed to add them.
Council members agreed to move forward with the road widening project while waiting for city staff to complete a proposed multi-modal policy that would create options for bike lanes, pedestrian paths and more. The multi-modal plan will likely be presented to City Council by the end of the summer, Johns Creek Communications Director Bob Mullen said on Tuesday.
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