Inconvenient Construction is a Small Price for Roswell Road Bridge Widening, Hopefully

While it may get ugly during construction, the Roswell Road bridge widening over I-285 should be complete by Oct. 2012, according to Mark McKinnon spokesperson for Georgia Department of Transportation.

Work beneath the bridge started last weekend. Roadwork on the bridge itself is about six to eight weeks away.

“This project is all about congestion relief,” McKinnon said. 

An open house on the project was held on Tuesday morning at Sandy Springs City Hall. A second informational gathering with GDOT officials will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 1.

Currently there are five lanes on the bridge – two through lanes in each direction and a partial turn lane onto I-285. 

The widening project includes a sixth lane. The east side of the bridge will be expanded. There will be dedicated left turn lanes onto the highway entrance ramps in both directions. And the through lanes will be widened to 11 feet.  

Medians will be installed on Roswell Road before Northwood Drive on the south end, and Allen Road on the north end, to accommodate the left turn lanes, McKinnon said.

Because of the medians, traffic will not be able to turn left out of Allen Road or Carpenter Drive onto Roswell Road. Currently, motorists cannot make a left turn from Northwood.

The $3.6 million dollar project includes federal, state and local funds.

Lanes will be shifted beneath the bridge on I-285 as work is being done. And there will be lane closures when construction starts atop the bridge. However, traffic will be able to pass through.

Although the public dreads construction, Sandy Springs spokesperson Sharon Kraun said, “Anybody coming in and out of the city, they know how jammed it is [on the bridge] so they are welcoming the relief.”