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 attempting to explain the name of Five Forks-Trickum Road — by clicking the hyperlinks at the bottom of this column, where you'll also find information for submitting your own questions. Enjoy!
Grab them hard hats, folks — we're gonna talk roadwork.
Reader Mike writes (with my adjustments for AP style): "When will they start making the on/off ramps for I-85 on Gravel Springs Road (Ga. 324)? I heard the county got approval for this. Thank you."
Thank you for your thank you, Mike. I will reward your cordial inquiry with an informative and equally respectful answer.
Things are indeed moving forward with the new I-85 exit at Gravel Springs, which, for the unfamiliar, is roughly halfway between Ga. 20 and Hamilton Mill Parkway in Buford. The road already passes over I-85, but there's no direct access from the interstate — meaning that, for the time being, a potential route to the sort-of-nearby (and ever popular) Mall of Georgia is only that. A potential route.
That's gonna change, Mike. But not for a while.
As esteemed AJC colleague David Wickert reported last week, Gwinnett's Board o' Commissioners recently accepted a $2 million grant to pay for land acquisition that will help pave the way for a brand spankin' new interchange, which will look a little something like this:
Cool picture, bro, but "land acquisition"? "Grant"? Booooring. I know, I know. Sorry. You can read more about the specifics of the project here, but as far as the tidbit you're most interested in — transportation director Alan Chapman said construction is currently slated to begin in summer 2018.
Yup. 2018. Which is, like, not for a while.
A timeframe for completion after that isn't quite clear and, as Gwinnett knows, these things tend take a minute. So you've got a little more waiting ahead of you, Mike, but look at it this way: You're only three or four or five or six (or more?) years away from your dreamiest driving dreams coming true.
Not enough? You've got more I-85 HOT lanes to look forward to, too!
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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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