Over the next 7 years, the Athens Perimeter (GA 10 Loop/422) is slated for the following improvements...

- Adding new off-ramps to Exit 18 (Atlanta Highway/US 78 Bus/GA 10).

- Converting Exit 8 (Lexington Road/US 78 Bus/US 78 East/GA 10) to a full cloverleaf.

- Upgrading the Peter Street/Olympic Drive intersection to an interchange.

This year, GDOT plans to purchase the necessary right-of-way for the Atlanta Highway project, but construction is not scheduled to start until 2018.

The Lexington Road project's necessary right-of-way is not even scheduled for purchase until 2017.

Next year, GDOT is slated to start the Peter Street/Olympic Drive intersection-to-interchange project. I am assuming that the necessary right-of-way has been secured and that this project is "shovel-ready".

Having driven all 18 miles (29 km) of this highway, I've got to wonder why GDOT had this lone at-grade signalized intersection in the first place. Perhaps this was a cost-cutting measure at the time it was being constructed in the late 1970s?

Here are additional improvements I would have done to the Athens Perimeter...

- Add 12-foot (3.7 m) Interstate-grade paved shoulders to the southern and eastern sections.

- Repave the existing shoulders on the northern section.

- Renovate all the 1960s-era bridges that cross over roads, rivers, and streams, adding hard shoulder space.

Many of you may have seen my 2-part "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" video series on the Athens Perimeter, which included music from 2 of Athens' most famous bands, R.E.M. and The B-52's.

Regretfully, the infamous "YouTube Police" decided to block Part 1 on copyright grounds.



However, ROADGEEK-CAM Productions has finished a "remix" and will be posting it soon and we'll be finding a new home for the original version.

That's it for now. I've got to get some laundry done and get ready to go to a special event this evening.

Thanks for reading my blogs, watching my videos, and please come back often.

SOURCE: "State set to buy land to upgrade loop interchange", Athens Banner-Herald, March 25, 2011.

 

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