State announces millions for road projects in metro Atlanta

The State Road and Tollway Authority will give $17 million in loans and grants to help pay for 16 transportation projects across Georgia, most of them in metro Atlanta.

The money comes from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank, which has awarded more than $182 million in grants and loans since 2010. This year’s recipients, announced Monday, include these metro Atlanta projects:

• The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District received a $500,000 grant to convert a lane on Courtland Street to a bus-only lane during morning and afternoon rush hour. The bus-only lane will run from Portman Boulevard to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
• Cherokee County will receive a $2.9 million loan and a $1 million grant to create the new two-lane, half-mile Technology Ridge Parkway from Bluffs Parkway to Heard Drive.
• East Point will receive a $504,002 grant to realign the three-legged “T” intersection at Washington Road and Janice Drive. The project includes left- and right-turn lanes on Washington Drive.
• Fayette County will receive $300,000 to improve Hampton Road’s two intersections on Ga. 92. It will create a traffic light at the northern intersection and a roundabout at the southern intersection.
• Forsyth County will receive a $750,000 grant to build the new four-lane Coal Mountain Connector from Ga. 9 to Ga. 369.
• The Gateway 85 Community Improvement District will receive a $750,000 grant for improvements to the I-85 interchange at Beaver Ruin Road.
• Gwinnett County will receive a $1 million grant for the first phase of roadway connecting the Rowen Development to Ga. 316 at Drowning Creek Road.
• Lawrenceville will receive a $400,000 grant for intersection improvements on New Hope Road/Jackson Street at Scenic Highway.
• The Lilburn Community Improvement District will get a $1 million grant to realign Lilburn School Road and Jennifer Drive, which currently connect separately to Lawrenceville Highway.
• The Town Center Community Improvement District will get a $500,000 grant to widen Big Shanty Road from two lanes to four lanes from Chastain Meadows Parkway to Bells Ferry Road.
• Union City will receive a $750,000 grant to pave and widen McClure Road, which is currently closed from Ga. 92 to the city limit.
• Woodstock will receive a $2.9 million loan and a $1 million grant to widen Neese Road from Washington Avenue to Arnold Mill Road.