This is "Actual Factual Gwinnett," a regular column in which Tyler Estep answers reader questions about Gwinnett happenings and history. Read previous editions — like this one telling you exactly what they're building at Sugarloaf Mills mall — by clicking the hyperlinks at the bottom of this column, where you'll also find information for submitting your own questions. Enjoy!
Greetings. Let's talk roadwork.
Reader Joe writes: "Are there any plans to widen Buford Highway through downtown Suwanee next to the Town Center area? Or even better, from Sugarloaf all the way to Ga. 20?"
Good question, Joe. But no. There are no plans to widen Buford Highway in Suwanee. THAT SAID...
...the Georgia Department of Transportation did recently award a contract to expand the road down in Buford, and into Hall County.
To be precise: They'll pay a contractor just over $1.6 million to "widen and reconstruct" Buford Highway between Sawnee Avenue (near downtown Buford) and Lanier Islands Parkway (The Parkway Formerly Known As Friendship Road). In map form, that 1.7-mile stretch — which will go from two lanes to four lanes and a median — looks like this:
Katie Strickland from GDOT tells me work should start sometime this fall, but the estimated completion date is waaay down the road (see what I did there?) — June 30, 2020.
Also worth noting: The Buford Highway widening will intersect with the ongoing project that's expanding Lanier Islands Parkway between Ga. 211 and Lake Lanier Islands (the resort). More on that here, from The Gainesville Times.
So, Joe, there's a lot of work slated on and around Buford Highway — but none that looks to help you out down in Suwanee.
Lo siento.
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I, Tyler Estep, am a staff writer with the AJC and a Gwinnett County native. To submit “Actual Factual Gwinnett” questions, contact me at tyler.estep@coxinc.com, @ByTylerEstep on Twitter or via the form below.
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