Update: Willeo Creek bridge replacement closures, detour map

Some initial lane closures got underway this week for the upcoming Willeo Creek Bridge replacement project we noted a few weeks ago, when final funding was approved.

Cobb County Government and the City of Roswell announced this week more of the timetable for the joint project, which which close the bridge entirely for four months.

The 60-year bridge will be replaced with a wider bridge that will include room for cyclists and pedestrians, linking existing sidewalks and trails between Willeo Road and Lower Roswell Road.

The full project, which has been delayed a few years due to amendments with an intergovernmental agreement, will take a year to complete.

Another such amendment will come before the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. Another cost increase has pushed the final tab from $2.3 million to $3 million with Cobb and Roswell paying for an equal share.

According to Tuesday’s agenda item (details here and here) the additional funding is necessary for environmental mitigation purposes.

According to a video released by Cobb on Wednesday, the bridge closing is expected to begin sometime in the late spring or early summer, although a specific date has not been determined.

That means that East Cobbers using the bridge that connects the roundabout at Lower Roswell Road and Timber Ridge Road with Willeo Road for riverfront recreation and other activities in Roswell will have to use an alternate route while the bridge is closed.

The City of Roswell has drawn up a map of that detour above, and the Cobb video said further updates on when that alternate route will begin will be provided on the city website.

That includes taking Timber Ridge to Roswell Road (State Route 120) and heading east as it becomes the Marietta Highway in Roswell, then turning right on Willeo Road.