After almost four decades, drivers in Kennesaw can once again traverse the east-west route along Big Shanty Road.
The road had been split in the mid-1970s by construction of I-75. It was reopened this week to much fanfare by Cobb County, transportation officials, and particularly the Town Center Area Improvement District, which led the way on the project.
While I-75 was a boon for the area, traffic along Chastain Road and Barrett Parkway adjacent to the highway, had become increasingly heavy over the past few years, said Dan McDuff, the county's deputy transportation director.
The $27 million (including about $11 million in county funds), two-mile roadway extension project was completed in three phases, with construction beginning in September 2009. The original completion deadline of April 2012 was pushed back because of utility relocation and other unforeseen delays, but contractors were able to meet the ultimate goal of opening the road before county schools and Kennesaw State University reopened in the fall. The road, with an adjacent bicycle and pedestrian trail, is expected to remove 19,000 vehicles off of Chastain Road and 13,000 off Barrett Parkway each day.
"This new road will provide drivers with another way to get across I-75 to go from shops and residences without touching Barrett Parkway or Chastain Road," McDuff said. "This is for more local traffic, but when people discover this road as a shortcut, it will improve access to KSU as well."
Commission Chairman Tim Lee compared the project to the Windy Hill-Macland Road Connector, which opened last summer in west Cobb, as being integral to improving transportation in the county.
Thus far, drivers seem to be unaware of the Big Shanty Road extension, McDuff said after driving by the area Friday morning, two days after the re-opening ceremony. But he expects traffic to increase in the coming weeks as school resumes.
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