Roadwork along Buford Dam Road
The city of Cumming, Forsyth County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are handling separate projects along Buford Dam Road over the next several months.
1) Hwy. 9 to Sanders Road
Cumming plans to widen the road to four lanes with sidewalks from Hwy. 9, across Ga. 400 and Market Place Boulevard to Sanders. The project, expected to begin this winter, will close the 1.38-mile stretch of road for 90 days during construction.
2) Samples Road
Forsyth County has added turn lanes at the intersection with Samples and Lanier Beach South roads. The project, conducted under traffic with a pilot car guiding motorists through construction, is expected to be completed by mid-October.
3) Sanders Road to corps property
A pavement improvement project is rejuvenating the road from Sanders, where the city’s project ends, to near West Bank Park, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property begins. A one-foot paved shoulder will also be added to each side. The county expects the work to wrap up in
mid-October.
4) Corps property
The 2-mile bridge stretch will be closed from Oct. 11 to Nov. 5 for pavement replacement.
The project, which is being handled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was originally set to begin Monday.
Work on the 2-mile stretch has since been pushed back to Oct. 11, said Pat Robbins, corps spokesman.
“The company has just had some issues getting all the equipment available,” Robbins said. “But the end date has not changed. We still anticipate it being completed by Nov. 5 or earlier.”
Once the road closes, there will be no detours for the 10,000 motorists who travel the road daily.
To cross Lake Lanier, drivers will have to take Hwy. 20, to the south, or Hwy. 369, to the north.
It’s estimated the closure will add between 15 to 30 minutes to travel times.
The delay in beginning the project does help motorists by giving the county enough time to complete its Buford Dam Road project, one of three planned along the hilly, winding corridor.
Tim Allen, assistant director of engineering, said within the next two weeks the county’s 2.6-mile project will be finished.
“The only thing we have left to do is a bit of shoulder building and cleanup work,” Allen said.
Allen said crews have added turn lanes where the road crosses Samples and Lanier Beach South roads, and straightened the severe angle at which the streets met.
All that remains on the county project is improving pavement and adding a foot-long paved shoulder to each side.
Since Friday, crews have been working to resurface the small stretch of road just past Samples.
Rain last weekend and Thursday hendered but didn’t stop progress, Allen said.
“It slowed them down a bit, but I would have to say overall, the rain hasn’t hurt us at all,” he said.
Blount Construction, the crew handling the county’s project, had 90 days to complete the work.
Allen said “they’re going to be right at the two-month mark, so they’ll finish a month early.”
Once the corps’ project is complete in early November, Buford Dam Road motorists will have a break until February or March.
That’s when the third project likely will begin. The city of Cumming plans to widen Buford Dam Road between Hwy. 9 and Sanders Road.