This entry was posted on 7/10/2010 10:37 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
According to fellow road enthusiast Dave Consolla, who recently took a roadtrip down most of US 441 in Georgia, there is a brand new 4-lane by-pass around Dublin, Georgia.
US 441 throughout Georgia is part of Georgia's Governor's Road Improvement Program (GRIP), started in 1989 for the purpose of providing 95 percent of Georgia's cities with populations of 2500 or above improved access to the Interstate System.
For tourism purposes, Georgia has designated its 371-mile (594 km) stretch of 441 as "Heritage Highway 441" and it is marked in several places with signs such as this photo taken in 2004 by fellow road enthusiast (and former Georgia resident) John Krakoff...
At this time, Georgia's longest contiguous sections of US 441 4-lane exist as follows...
- I-20 in Morgan County to the North Carolina state line (approximately 117 miles/187 km).
- I-16 in Laurens County to Flat Rock in Putnam County (approximately 65 miles/104 km).
Other sections of US 441 that have been 4-laned so far are a 4-mile (6.4 km) by-pass around Eatonton and an 18-mile (29 km) section from US 82/GA 520 (South Georgia Parkway/Corridor Z) in Pearson (Atkinson County) to just north of Douglas (Coffee County). Here's a roadsign photo I took nearly a year ago at the southern end of the Eatonton by-pass...
Per the GDOT US 441 GRIP document, the state only plans to have this road widened from "just south of Fargo in Clinch County" to the North Carolina line. Georgia's southernmost segment from the Florida state line to Fargo is not slated for widening since Florida DOT apparently has no plans to widen its northernmost segment.
I'm not so sure about Florida's plans for US 441, but if I were to plan another so-called "developmental highway" in Florida, I would work with Georgia by 4-laning US 441 from I-10 near Lake City to the Georgia state line. If Florida does so, and Georgia eventually widens its entire stretch of 441, then there would be a contiguous 4-lane segment running from Lake City, Florida, to Cherokee, North Carolina, for approximately 450 miles (720 km). WOW!!!
That's it for now. Thanks to Dave for the info on the new US 441 Dublin by-pass opening, John for the sign photo, and y'all for reading. Please come back often.
7/10/2010 8:35 PM
Kevin Wood wrote:
Ah yes.... Hwy 441. From Madison, GA to Gatlinburg, TN it is one of my most favorite highways. I remember as a kid on the family trips to Cherokee and Gatlinburg we would catch 441 at Commerce and head north.
Old Hwy 441 paralleled the old Tallulah Fall RR trackbed in many places through Habersham and Rabun counties in Georgia and Macon County, NC. I follow old abandoned railroads like Steve follows old roads!
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