Commuters who use Ga. Highway 20, a major east-to-west route in the far reaches of Atlanta’s northern suburbs, will soon benefit from a major widening of a 24-mile segment of the road.
The project in Cherokee and Forsyth counties will be funded with proceeds from recently enacted state legislation that raised gas taxes and other fees to create an additional $1 billion per year for transportation projects, said Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry.
The cost was not immediately available from GDOT Wednesday afternoon.
“We heard the community’s outcry for this crucial project and the desire for it to remain on the existing roadway,” McMurry said in a statement. “This project is a perfect example of the positive impact that using state funds has over federal funding for projects such as this. We are thankful to the Governor and the Legislature for their support of reduced dependency on federal funding to address Georgia’s transportation needs.”
The state has been looking for ways to improve the connection between Canton and Cumming since 2012. However, area residents were concerned about several alternatives that the federal government was requiring the state to expore.
Now that federal funds won’t have to be used for the project, GDOT is free to focus solely on widening Ga. 20.
The project will be broken up into six segments. Design will get underway in January 2016. The segments are:
• I-575 to Scott Road
• Scott Road to Union Hill Road
• Union Hill Road to East Cherokee Drive
• East Cherokee Drive to Ga. 369
• Ga. 369 to Ga. 371
• Ga. 371 to the existing four-lane in Cumming
“I am grateful for the hard work and perseverance of GDOT in ensuring that the community’s concerns were heard and that this important project will be one of the first to show the positive impact of the Transportation Funding Act,” said state Senator Brandon Beach.
State Representative Mandi Ballinger noted that Ga. 20 is a critical corridor for Cherokee County and she has been fully supportive of finding a way to improve it. She is glad to see the positive impact of state funding in Cherokee County.
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