The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is completing a series of reconstruction projects along the Georgia Highway 316 corridor from Ga. 20 in Gwinnett County through Barrow County to Ga. 10 in Oconee County, the agency announced recently.

A few sections within the overall Ga. 316 corridor project have been completed, while others are under construction, and many are slated to begin work in the coming years across the three counties

The primary challenges to be corrected on the highway are its high crash rates and congestion, GDOT noted on its website. The proposed work on that stretch of Ga. 316 is designed to reduce the frequency of future accidents, cut down on the severity of those that do occur, and improve operations and mobility along the corridor.

To do so, upgraded sections of Ga. 316 will be transformed into more of a free-flowing highway that will allow motorists 17 mi. of traffic signal-free access to Interstate 85 in the northeast Atlanta suburbs.

Plans call for construction crews to remove the road's thru movement from intersections, as well, thereby decreasing the likelihood for collisions.

Nearly Three Dozen Work Zones Planned

Gwinnett and Oconee counties each have nine planned and separate work zones on the Ga. 316 reconstruction project, while Barrow County drivers have two of 15 projects currently under construction. Another at the intersection of Ga. 316/U.S. 29 and Ga. 81, is finished and open to traffic.

Elsewhere in Barrow County, the state transportation agency is planning to begin work later this year on two interchange building projects, which are to be bundled into one construction package. The site, east of Atlanta, will be awarded to a single design-build team, according to GDOT.

The bundle will:

• Upgrade the existing at-grade intersections at Ga. 316 and Bethlehem Road and Barber Creek Road to grade-separated interchanges.
• Add a cul-de-sac at the existing at-grade crossings at Ga. 316 and McCarty Road and Craft Road.
• Provide access from McCarty Road to Bethlehem Road via a new frontage road.
• Create an access from Craft Road north of Ga. 316 to Barber Creek Road by building a new frontage road.
• Extend Statham Drive west to merge into Price Street.

GDOT noted that this stretch of Ga. 316 in Barrow County serves approximately 27,200 vehicles per day — 9 percent of them being truck traffic.

Eliminating at-grade intersections would reduce the number of vehicle conflict points and potential incidents at the intersections, the agency said.

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