No, you’re not a dummy. (Probably.) This is the simplified explanation of ways to avoid the chaos when Clarks Bridge Road/SR 284 closes on Tuesday, May 27, 2014, and everybody says, “Hey! Nobody told ME the dang road was going to be closed!”
The new bridge being built on Clarks Bridge Road, near the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue, is coming along quite nicely.
The next phase of construction is what we call “the annoying and confusing phase” because Clarks Bridge Road/SR 284 will be closed to vehicular traffic for “a maximum of 60 days” starting on Tuesday, May 27, 2014.
Traffic will be rerouted via an 11-mile detour onto U.S. 129 / Cleveland Highway during that time. All you have to do is read the signs and/or follow the traffic.
Please do not, as medical professionals would say, “freak out and/or go berserk.” That will not speed up construction or traffic and will increase your chances of having a stroke, which will only make things worse. Probably.
The closure must be done to raise the road by three feet in order to put a pedestrian tunnel under the road. The tunnel will be 10-feet wide, 8-feet tall and just over 63-feet long, and will make crossing Clarks Bridge Road/SR 284 much safer for visitors to Clarks Bridge Park and the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue.
Clarks Bridge Road Closing Details
- Clarks Bridge Road/SR 284 will be closed temporarily but the existing Clarks Bridge will NOT be closed.
- Clarks Bridge Road/SR 284 will be closed on the north side — the Clermont side — of Clarks Bridge Park and the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue driveways. That’s where the new tunnel will be built. That’s why the road must be closed.
- If you are driving on northbound on Clarks Bridge Road/SR 284 coming from Gainesville you can still cross the bridge on Clarks Bridge Road/SR 284. You will still be able to access the boat ramps at the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue at Clarks Bridge Park. You will still be able to access the buildings housing the rowing and canoe/kayak clubs.
- If you are driving southbound on Clarks Bridge Road/SR 284, coming from Clermont, you will NOT be able to access the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue, the boat ramps at Clarks Bridge Park or Clarks Bridge Park, including the rowing and canoe/kayak clubs. This is where the new tunnel will be built and where the existing road will be “all tore up.”
Click Here to Download a Map of the Construction on SR 284
When it’s finished, the new bridge will have 12-foot-wide lanes and an 8-foot-wide shoulder in each direction for bicycling or walking.
The current bridge will be torn down after the new bridge and tunnel are 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/
gadeptoftrans).
