Cobb DOT is reminding motorists about Sandy Plains Road lane closures that will be in effect next week:
Beginning Monday, Sept. 24, utility relocation work will reduce Sandy Plains Road to one lane for traffic traveling in both directions between Ebenezer Road and Kinjac Drive, north of Piedmont Road. The shift is expected to remain in place no later than Sunday, Sept. 30. However, completion of this work is dependent upon favorable weather conditions.
Signage and traffic control devices will be positioned to guide motorists. Drivers are advised to take Canton Road or Holly Springs Road and should reduce their speed and exercise caution in the area.
This utility work comes as part of a 2011 SPLOST road safety and operational improvements project for 8-mile-long Sandy Plains Road, where a raised median is present in all areas except between Kinjac Drive and Ebenezer Road. The project will add a median, as well as left and right turn lanes, to this road segment.
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The construction area along Sandy Plains Road will be between East Piedmont Road and Ebenezer Road, marked in green (mapped via OpenStreetMap.com).
The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $4.4 million contract for Sandy Plains Road traffic improvements that will include a raised median, new crosswalks and pedestrian signals and resurfacing.
The road work will stretch from East Piedmont Road to Ebenezer Road. The contract was awarded to C.W. Matthews, the low bidder among five, and the funding is coming from the 2011 SPLOST.
The project is estimated to take about a year from the time a notice to proceed with construction is issued.
The elevated concrete median will stretch from Kinjac Drive to Ebenezer Road, which prompted Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell to ask about the possible use of synthetic turf that’s recently been suggested to replace grass road medians.
“I’d rather see the concrete erased but I know that is more expensive,” she said. Cobb DOT director Jim Wilgus said that issue can be taken up when the construction project reaches that stage.
At a recent work session, Cobb commissioners heard a presentation about two synthetic turf median experiments, along stretches of Cumberland Parkway and Austell Road.
The combined cost for the turfing is close to $150,000, but each job would last more than 20 years and pay for itself in the third year and in the long run cost less than mowing grass.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners approved a nearly $12.7 million contract with Baldwin Paving Co. for 36 miles of countywide resurfacing projects, including $375,000 once the Sandy Plains Road improvements are completed. The funding also comes from the 2011 SPLOST.
Other East Cobb roads on that project list include:
Indian Hills Drive, from Old Canton Road to Ridgewater Drive (1.21 miles);
Wildwood Parkway (0.16 miles);
Gordy Parkway, from Sandy Plains Road to Shallowford Road (1.2 miles);
Jims Road, from Steinhauer Road to Wigley Road (0.67 miles);
Knight Road, from Ebenezer Road to Blackwell Road (0.62 miles);
Sandy Plains Road, from Canton Road Connector to Canton Road (0.25 miles);
Sandy Plains Road, from Ebenezer Road to Shallowford Road (1.8 miles);
Steinhauer Road, from Shallowford Road to Trickum Road (2.01 miles).
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