Just the other day, Mary went by the AAA office in East Cobb to pick up some maps and travel info for our upcoming roadtrip to Western North Carolina.

Being the roadgeek that I am, I just started thumbing through the 2010 AAA TourBook for Georgia and the Carolinas, and found something very, very interesting...


From I-85 to Lawrenceville Highway (US 29/GA 8), Jimmy Carter Boulevard has not (AFAIK) been designated as a state route, so Gwinnett County DOT would be responsible for maintaining that particular section. However, AAA apparently thinks that Georgia DOT (GDOT) has taken it over.

Having lived in the Gwinnett and Tucker areas during much of my life, I had driven the entire length of JCB, Last time I was in the area, I did not notice any extension of GA 140. Granted, I had not been down there recently, but I had not seen on any official Georgia highway map where GDOT took over the entire length of this road. Frankly, I did not believe that it was true.

Just before writing this blog, I IM'd my good friend and fellow roadgeek Jim Georges (a.k.a. "FreewayJim") who lives near JCB to see if he had spotted any GA 140 signs at the intersection of JCB and 29. His answer.... "No". AAA, looks like you're BUSTED!!!

Now that Jim and I have done our "roadgeek mythbusting" (with apologies to the real Mythbusters), I could see where it would be plausible tor GDOT to extend GA 140 not only down the rest of JCB, but also continue it across US 29, where JCB becomes Mountain Industrial Boulevard and enters DeKalb County.

Mountain Industrial Boulevard extends southward past Tucker, crossing Hugh Howell Road (GA 236) and the Stone Mountain Freeway (US 78/GA 410) to it's southern end at East Ponce de Leon Avenue.

From "East Ponce", the road becomes North Hairston Road, crossing Memorial Drive (GA 10/Old US 78). Once North Hairston crosses Rockbridge Road, it becomes South Hairston Road, and eventually dead ends at Wesley Chapel Road, just north of I-20.

Last time GA 140 was extended, it was done so along Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell to Norcross and I-85, but I do not see GDOT doing any further extension of this particular state route. The plausible extension route from I-85 to I-20 is a major commuter corridor, but nonetheless, it may be best that Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties continue to main their respective sections themselves.

That's it for now. Thanks to Jim for his "mythbusting" help and thanks to y'all for reading.

May you and yours have a very happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

SOURCE OF IMAGE: Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina AAA TourBook (2010 Edition), p. 319, AAA Publishing.

 

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