Driving Forsyth: Road Improvements and a Transportation Summit

As anyone who has negotiated a rush hour on GA-400 can attest, the Cumming-Forsyth region has a booming traffic infrastructure. What’s down the road for transportation issues in our area? Here’s a quick breakdown of new highway and road projects:

GA-400:

-Widening of GA-400 from the McFarland Road exits (12 A-B) to Bald Ridge Marina Road (exit 15) will begin this fall, with a projected completion date in 2018. The project will widen this section of 400 from 2 lanes to 4, with the possibility of the project extending to GA Highway 369 in North Forsyth.

-A new exit will be constructed at McGinnis Ferry/GA-400. The project, expected to begin in 2019, will expand the business corridor from McGinnis Ferry to McFarland Road, allowing big businesses opportunity to relocate and expand—bringing new jobs and commerce to the county. Of major interest in development along the corridor will be Taubman Centers Inc.’s live-work-play development at the intersection of McGinnis Ferry Road and Ronald Regan Boulevard, slated to open in 2020 pending analysis and meetings with major retailers.

County projects:

-The Ronald Reagan Boulevard extension is slated to begin in 2017. This stretch of road, which currently ends just past Majors Road, will bring Ronald Reagan Blvd. to McFarland Road. In a recent Atlanta Business Chronicle article, http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/07/31/clearing-the-road-s-200m-bond-to-fund-multiple.html, Forsyth County Commissioner Brian Tam said,  “Ronald Reagan will serve as a main arterial road, much like North Point Parkway does in Fulton County. This new road will help promote commercial development, creating sales tax dollars and lessening the tax burden of homeowners, as well as adding an alternative route for our citizens during peak travel times.”

-Another major county road artery, Old Atlanta Road, will undergo a transition to 4 lanes from the St. Marlo Country Club entrance to the Old Atlanta Club entrance, with a further widening from Old Atlanta Club to James Burgess Road happening shortly thereafter.

-A number of traffic safety improvements are slated to begin on SR 20. Intersection signals, culverts, guardrails, sidewalks and other upgrades will be added in sections from Sanders and Nuckolls Road to SR 20, along Samples Road from Buford Dam to Hwy 20, and along James Burgess Road from 20 to Riverwatch Middle School. There will improvements at many major intersections, too, most notably SR 369 at Mount Tabor, Old Federal and Pooles Mill Roads; SR-400 at Jot-Em-Down Road, and SR-9 at Campground Road. For a complete overview, visit this Forsyth County interactive map of transportation projects HERE.

SR-20 Project

Recently, the GA Department of Transportation hosted a series of informational meetings about the widening of State Road 20 through Cherokee and Forsyth Counties.  If you missed it, find out more about this far-reaching and long-term project here.

Of course, the impetus for this project is to relieve congestion, shorten every resident’s commute times, and encourage commercial development in Cumming and Forsyth County. Most of the improvements are funded through a $200 million dollar transportation bond that was approved by Forsyth County voters last November. The bond combines funding from county taxpayers and a $10 million contribution from the state of Georgia.

Want Your Voice to Be Heard? Attend our Transportation Summit on November 4^th!

To encourage conversation and pre-planning, the Chamber is partnering with the Forsyth County Government and the South Forsyth Rotary Club to host a Transportation Summit on Wednesday, November 4^th, 2015 at the Forsyth Conference Center (3410 Ronald Regan Boulevard in Cumming.) For $15, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from—and ask questions of—invited guests Rudy Bowen (Board Member, 7^th Congressional District of the State Transportation Board,) Russell McMurry (GA DOT Commissioner,) and Forsyth County Commissioners Brian Tam and Cindy Mills. Admission is $15, which includes lunch, but limited seating will be available at no cost for those who do not eat lunch. There will be a ground breaking of the GA-400 extension project at 10 AM, with lunch and the Summit following at 11:30am. The event will wrap up at 1:30pm. To register, visit www.cummingforsythchamber.org or call 770-887-6461.