Governor Perdue Breaks Ground on Reconstruction of I-85 and SR 316 Interchange in Gwinnett County

Governor Perdue Breaks Ground on Reconstruction of I-85 and SR 316 Interchange in Gwinnett County

Project Includes More Than 17 Miles of HOV Lane Extension

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue l ed a de l egation of federa l , state and l oca l officia l s today to break ground on the l argest single road project in state history – the $147 mi l l ion reconstruction of the interchange at Interstate 85 and State Route 316 and the High Occupancy Vehic l e (HOV) l ane extension project.

“As the Fast Forward program demonstrates, with wise p l anning and carefu l a l l ocation of our avai l ab l e resources we can improve mobi l ity,” said Governor Sonny Perdue.  “I'm proud that through Fast Forward we wi l l bring major congestion re l ief to Gwinnett County at this critica l interchange.”

The interchange first opened to traffic on November 24, 1962, and ten separate projects over three decades completed the Atlanta to Athens connection.  Now more than 267,000 vehicles travel through the interchange every day.  The interchange has never been reconstructed.

“We got our monies' worth out of the interchange but now we must rebui l d to a l l ow more vehic l es to f l ow through the area and extend our HOV system into northern Gwinnett County ,” said Georgia Transportation Commissioner Haro l d Linnenkoh l .  “The new interchange wi l l a l l ow more direct access from State Route 316 to P l easant Hi l l Road via a brand new bridge that wi l l f l y over the Interstate.  A second new f l yover bridge wi l l bring State Route 316 traffic into

I-85 southbound on the right or outside l ane of the interstate.  The existing l eft hand merge from 316 to I-85 south wi l l become an HOV on l y l ane bringing HOV traffic from 316 into a new HOV l ane on I-85.”

The project extends the current HOV system with 17.5 new lane miles on I-85 and SR 316. DOT will build 11 new lane miles of collector distributor roads, two new flyover bridges and reconstruct 11 existing bridges.  The completion date for the project is December 31, 2008 at an estimated construction cost of $147 million.  The project is under contract to a joint venture of CW Matthews Contracting Co. and AP AC Southeast, Inc.

Clearing and debris remova l has begun on the project.  Weather permitting, the first impact to motorists wi l l begin on Tuesday, February 21 with both north and south bound lane closures on I-85.  On Monday, February 27 the entrance ramp from Boggs Road to Interstate 85 southbound wi l l be c l osed for the duration of the project to a l l ow the construction of a retaining wa l l , new co l l ector distributor l anes and two new bridges.

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