Meeting planned next week on Ga. 316 project

GAINESVILLE - The work is years away but some major changes are planned to three intersections on Georgia 316 in Barrow County.

The state Department of Transportation wants to reconstruct three intersections on the busy four-lane, converting them into Interstate-type interchanges... doing away with traffic lights and installing on- and off-ramps.

A public information meeting is planned Feb. 4, 4:00-7:00 p.m., on the project and will be held at Apalachee High School in Winder.

"We will be sharing plans for three separate projects to build grade-separated interchanges on SR 316 at SR 81, at SR 11 and at SR 53," DOT Gainesville District Pre-construction Engineer Rober Mahoney said. "The plans are very preliminary. We want to include the community in the early stages of design so we can incorporate their ideas into the work. Currently there is no funding allocated for right of way acquisition or construction of these interchanges."

Anyone unable to attend the public information open house may send comments on the project to Glenn Bowman, Georgia DOT, 3993 Aviation Circle, Atlanta, GA, 30336. All comments will be considered in the development of the final project design and must be received by February 18. After the open house, plans can be viewed at the Georgia DOT Area Office located at 450 Hurricane Shoals Road in Lawrenceville or at the Georgia DOT District Office located at 2505 Athens Highway in Gainesville.

After the meeting, the plans will be available on the DOT website at www.dot.ga.gov. On the home page choose Information Center then Public Outreach and select the project s county and choose Go . A list of DOT projects in that county will appear and you can select the one you d like to view.