(Forsyth County, GA) The ongoing construction project to create a full interchange at SR 369 and SR 400 is back on track after being put on hold in December.
In the latest episode of “On the Move” released on the Forsyth County Government website and Facebook page, Capital Projects Director John Jefferson said bridge work was put on hold last month when the construction team realized it didn’t meet some design conditions.
“So to make sure it would meet its service life and we wouldn’t have any issues with traffic going forward we took a pause, figured out what was going on and we batted around a couple of different solutions and we landed on one,” said Jefferson. ““We are going to build what we’re going to call a web wall…. We’re going to infill between the columns and then infill underneath the cantilevers on both sides with a structural wall.”
The solution was a joint decision made among Forsyth County, Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and the contractor Vertical Earth.
“We worked together closely with the County and Vertical Earth and designers and with our bridge office looking at the best possible solution to get this bridge open as soon as we can and still meet our standards,” said GDOT District One Engineer Kelvin Mullens. “We came up with the solution which we think is a good one and everyone is satisfied.”
Mullens said the goal with any bridge construction project is to get at least 50 years of use from it.
Elliott Batts, Vertical Earth’s head of transportation, said construction on the bridge should get started again in two or three weeks and should take about eight weeks to complete.
“Assuming everything goes well, weather, concrete cure times,” said Batts. “We’re looking at approximately a March time frame for opening the bridge.”
In the video, Forsyth County Director of Communications Russell Brown affirmed the bridge is and will continue to be safe.
“There’s a lot of misinformation on social media about ‘is the bridge safe the way that it stands right now?’” Brown said. “We reiterate, the bridge is structurally sound the way it stands today.”
The construction of the bridge will eliminate the traffic light on Martin Road at the SR 369/400 intersection because traffic will be moved onto the bridge. A statement posted by the County Government on Facebook clarified plans announced in the “On the Move” video to close Martin Road:
“For clarification, Martin Rd. WILL NOT be closing. The light at Martin Rd. will be removed and the median dividing SR 400 will be continued where the intersection is now, prohibiting cross traffic turns onto Martin Rd. The right turn off 400 onto Martin Rd. east, however, will be permitted for northbound traffic and the right turn onto Martin Rd. west will be permitted for southbound traffic. Travelers can also still merge on to 400 from Martin Rd. with a right turn out (traffic on Martin Rd. on the east side of 400 can merge onto 400 NB and traffic on the west side of 400 can merge onto 400 SB). “
Meanwhile, work continues to widen SR 369 in a three-mile stretch from east of 306 and to west of Hwy 9.
For more information about capital projects throughout Forsyth County, click here.
If you have a news tip in Forsyth County, email Michelle Hall at michelle.hall@newsbreak.com
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