This is one of those good news/bad news stories that many people in Forsyth County will understand all too well.
It’s about the widening of Georgia State Route 20, a major east-west arterial which has been a rush hour nightmare for as long as most people can remember.
The good news is that the two lane highway is finally in the process of being widened to a four lane divided highway from Samples Road in Forsyth County, over what will be a brand new bridge crossing the Chattahoochee into Gwinnett County and on to where the work will end as it connects to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.
All in, it’s a $143 million project requiring relocation of utilities, grading, drainage work and lots of other stuff before the first foot of roadway is even started. And just like the popular saying at the gym, major roadwork such as this also means “no pain-no gain.”
For many along the route it has meant the expansive front lawns at their homes are gone, and in the near future a highway will be very close to the front door. The three main subdivisions along the Forsyth County stretch are feeling the pain. Subdivisions such as the Chattahoochee River Club and Andover Glen, and to a lesser degree Windermere, are ground zero for the inconvenience factor. Outside Andover Glen construction has made finding and entering difficult at best. I can only imagine the challenge presented by trying to sell a home right now.
Meg Meier, a Forsyth Schools speech therapist and Andover Glen resident, uses the one word that most people use to describe how they view the ongoing road work — nightmare. What she most objects to is the trucks and equipment parking in the only entrance to her subdivision. She said it creates a safety issue and has asked the Georgia Department of Transportation to make the contractors stop using the road as a parking lot.
Meier acknowledges the work is necessary and is confident that once completed the community will benefit.
It’s no picnic for some businesses either. Brad Cochran, manager of the Pep Boys Auto Shop right at the western edge of the construction says between equipment and construction supplies obscuring his business, deep trenches cut across his driveway several times have dinged his business by around 20 percent. Yet, as with almost everyone we’ve spoken to, he can see the glass as half full. He said he believes that when it is completed everyone will benefit from what the DOT’s Teri Pope calls “enhanced traffic movement and improved vehicle and pedestrian safety.”
Oh! I almost forgot the even worse news — if everything goes according to Hoyle, the project won’t be completed until November 2016.
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