Our pal, Georgia Department of Transportation Communications Officer Teri N. Pope has good news for folks on the north end of the lake. The summer detour that closed State Route 284 / Clarks Bridge Road near Lake Lanier’s Olympic Venue ended a day early and reopened before 9 AM on Friday, July 25, 2014.
Georgia DOT District Construction Engineer Harold Mull says, “There is still a lot of work to finish so we don’t have an exact time for opening Clarks Bridge Road tomorrow except that the road will reopen before dark. Crews have finished paving the road. Tomorrow crews will stripe the road, install signs and install barrier wall around the pedestrian tunnel. The speed limit will be lowered to 35 miles per hour because the work is still continuing in the area and the driveways to the parking areas aren’t finished yet. Please slow down through the area after it is reopened tomorrow. You can watch for the removal of the detour signs along the current detour route or check our twitter feed for the opening time.”
SR 284 was closed for construction of the pedestrian tunnel under the highway on May 27th. The grade of SR 284 was raised by 3 feet to accommodate the new concrete tunnel. The tunnel is 10 feet wide, 8 feet high and 63.12 feet long.
The pedestrian tunnel will not open for use tomorrow. To complete the pedestrian access, two retaining walls must be built at each end of the tunnel. Sidewalks can then be poured to connect the tunnel to the parking areas and beach or building. These are concrete elements that must be poured, the “cure” will then be tested before the next section of concrete can be added. Finally, crews will run electricity and the install the lighting fixtures inside the tunnel.
The current bridge will be torn down after the new bridge — with 12-foot-wide lanes and an 8-foot-wide shoulder in each direction for bicycling or walking — is completed in late December of 2015.
To receive e-mail updates on the project please contact Teri Pope at [email protected].
The Georgia Department of Transportation is committed to providing a safe, seamless and sustainable transportation system that supports Georgia’s economy and is sensitive to both its citizens and its environment.
For more information on Georgia DOT, please visit www.dot.ga.gov or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/GeorgiaDOT) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/
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