Motorists are taking a slightly different route on Arnold Mill Road at the Cherokee County border with Milton — because of a lane relocation that clears the way for key roadwork leading to a new bridge over the Little River.
Construction crews working on the bridge realigned the traffic lanes on the Cherokee County side in March to allow work to begin on new sections of roadway leading to the new bridge, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The bridge project, scheduled for completion in January 2019, will replace the 1952 bridge along a busy stretch of Arnold Mill Road / Ga. 140. Lanes were shifted on March 15, along with new barriers and "road closed" signs on the old lane. Preparation work has now begun for what will be new road sections leading to the new bridge when it opens.
UPDATE Aug 20, 2018: Work has begun on a new road path leading to the new bridge. On Sunday, Aug. 19, the new approaches were still dirt, but work has been done to level and smooth the ground, making it look a bit more like the roadway it will become when the bridge is finished. Here’s a view of how it looked:
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BEFORE and AFTER: See a photo of the bridge before construction began, compared to how it looked in April 2018
When complete, the bridge will have two lanes 12 feet each, with a 10-foot shoulder, according to the DOT.
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Another change that might be noticed by residents and regular commuters: excavation and leveling of land on the Milton side of the bridge. What had been a red-clay bluff that rose high above the right of the road as it approached the bridge has been leveled to just about even with the road.
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Work was done in 2017 to remove trees and brush along either side of the road and the existing bridge.
On the Cherokee County side, “road closed” signs block traffic from a section of the road that will be rebuilt to connect to the new bridge. A news release from Georgia DOT said the new bridge is expected to be completed in November 2018.
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Credit: Brian O'Shea
Credit: Brian O'Shea
A detail of the current bridge showing a date of 1952.
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The nearest landmark to the new bridge is the Military Depot, located in the old Chadwick’s Store on the Milton side of the bridge. Because of the way city lines are drawn, the Military Depot is actually in the city of Roswell. The buildings and houses on the other side of the street are in the city of Milton.
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