The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners has approved a $78,000 traffic study for the Ga. 140 corridor, a move one county official hopes will prod state highway officials to accelerate their own plans for the road.
The study, by the Pond & Co. engineering firm, covers Ga. 140 from I-575 in Canton to the Little River Bridge on the Cherokee-Fulton county line near Roswell and Alpharetta. It would determine the need for short-, mid- and long-range capacity improvements.
Staff said the Georgia Department of Transportation has long-range plans to widen Ga. 140 from two to four lanes, but Board Chairman Harry Johnston told commissioners he’s heard that may not happen until about 2037. “That’s a completely unacceptable period of time,” Johnston said.
“We have a tentative plan to try to make some improvements substantially at Cherokee County’s own cost … and maybe persuade DOT to accelerate the Fulton County leg of improvements so we have much better two-lane road with better functioning intersections and continuous turn lanes,” he said.
“It wouldn’t be a forever solution, but it would buy us 10 or more years of reasonable productivity for that road,” Johnston said.
About the Author
