Buford Highway between McGinnis Ferry Road and George Pierce Park in Suwanee will be transformed beginning this fall. Nearly half of the $11 million, one and a half mile project will be funded by a grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission to implement the city’s LCI plan, the Downtown Suwanee Master Plan.
Residents and business owners that participated in the downtown plan and subsequent Buford Highway Transportation Study expressed a desire for transportation improvements to Buford Highway that would not turn the road into another high-speed thoroughfare.
Once the improvements are completed Buford Highway will become a pedestrian friendly street connecting the two sides of downtown. Buford Highway will continue to accommodate two lanes of vehicular traffic as well as dedicated, on-street bike lanes, on-street parallel parking to serve Town Center, and 13-foot wide sidewalks between Town Center Avenue and Russell Street. The improved streetscape will include pedestrian street lights, benches, trash receptacles, and bike racks.
A roundabout at the intersection of Buford Highway and Russell Street will make left turns easier from Old Town and serve as a gateway into both downtown Suwanee and historic Old Town.
South of the Russell Street roundabout, bike lanes will merge with the sidewalk to form a single 10-foot wide multi-use trail on the east side of Buford Highway that will connect to the existing multi-use trail on McGinnis Ferry Road. North of Town Center, 5 to 8-foot wide sidewalks and dedicated, on-street bike lanes will continue all the way to George Pierce Park.
Construction is expected to start in the fall with completion anticipated by spring of 2019. Construction will be managed by Georgia DOT.
Questions: 770-945-8996; ask for the planning department.
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