Ga. 316/I-85 project 'one step closer' to completion

DULUTH – The Georgia Department of Transportation will open the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-85 southbound and on State Route 316 westbound beginning late Thursday night with the lanes open by 5 a.m. Friday.

“We are one step closer to getting this great project finished,” DOT District Engineer Russell McMurry said. “We ask the public to bear with us as we wrap up work on the 85 northbound and 316 eastbound HOV lanes.”

The $147 million interchange reconstruction project, which began in January of 2006, includes two new flyover bridges from SR 316 westbound to I-85 southbound and to Pleasant Hill Road, as well as a congestion relieving collector-distributor system.

“There is still some work to do but we are on schedule,” McMurry said.

The project is slated to be complete at the end of the year.