West Fayetteville Parkway - Phase I

The West Fayetteville Parkway project is intended to provide a western bypass of the city of Fayetteville, Georgia, starting at Harp Road near Georgia State Route 85 and ending at Westbridge Road's intersection with Georgia State Route 92, just east of the Fayette-Fulton county line. This road is tinged with controversy: many residents didn't want it and felt that it was forced upon them by the Fayette County Commission; a Peachtree City woman died trying to drive through the Veterans Parkway/Lester Road-Georgia State Route 54 intersection, during construction; and many homes and wetlands were destroyed/will be destroyed to build this roadway.

West Fayetteville Parkway - Phase I (Video) [HD]

 West Fayetteville Parkway - Phase I (Description)

West Fayetteville Parkway - Phase II (Description)

Brightstar Road Connector - Douglasville, Ga.

The Brightstar Road Connector, which connects Rose Avenue (at S.R. 5/Bill Arp Road) and Brightstar Road, was built by the City of Douglasville, at a cost of $2.6 million. The end of the connector enters unincorporated Douglas County, which is under the jurisdiction of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. The County (Board of Commissioners) wanted the City to install a traffic signal at Brightstar Road and Brightstar Road Connector. The City would've gone through with it, if the County would've gone 50/50; the County declined. So, Douglasville refused to do it; the County shut the road down. Douglasville then shifted traffic into their city limits, to have the road open for commuters.

Click link below to view a video of the road in its current condition.

Brightstar Road Connector [HD]

Upcoming Roadtrips

This post will concern three roadtrips that I want to get under my belt within the next year: Atlanta to Huntsville; Atlanta to Savannah; and Atlanta to Albany.

Huntsville roadtrip (Click link for map):

This roadtrip's been accomplished!!
The routing that I wish to take will be as follows: I'll take S.R. 6 West from I-285, which is three miles west of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in East Point. S.R. 6 West picks up U.S. 278 West in the former city of Lithia Springs, in Douglas County. I'll continue on U.S. 278 through western Georgia and into Gadsden, where I'll jump on Alabama State Route 291 South to Alabama 759 West, which becomes I-759 West. I'll then follow I-759 West to I-59 North to exit 183 (U.S. 278/431). I'll continue to follow 431 North into Huntsville. While in Hunstville, I want to film Memorial Pkwy. (U.S. 231/431), Alabama 255 (Research Park Blvd.), Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy., Bob Wade Lane and I-565/U.S. 72 Alternate, as well as U.S. 72 East up into Tennessee.

Savannah roadtrip (Click link for map):

I want to film all of the Savannah area freeways: Veterans Parkway, Harry Truman Parkway, I-516, U.S. 17/S.R. 404 Spur, and I-16. Also, I'd like to do several street tours: U.S. 80 East/S.R. 22 East from near Thunderbolt to Tybee Island; U.S. 80/S.R. 22 in downtown Savannah to east of downtown; Abercorn Expressway/Street from I-95 to downtown Savannah.

Albany roadtrip (Click link for map):

Lastly, I want to film unbuilt I-175/S.R. 300 from I-75 in Cordele to Albany.; do an Albany street tour; and film the Liberty Expressway, portions of which are U.S. 19/82/S.R. 3/300/520. I got turned around, so I didn't get a chance to film S.R. 300 while in the Albany area, but I will go back one of these days and do it. :-D

U.S. 411 Connector/Emerson-Cartersville Bypass

Hello, good people. It's Bryant, your friendly neighborhood southern roadgeek-man, again. :-D

Alright, now to the topics at hand: the U.S. 411 Connector and the Emerson-Cartersville bypass. Emerson and Cartersville are both in Bartow County, which is 32 miles or so north of downtown Atlanta. Emerson is in close proximity to Red Top Mountain State Park and Allatoona Lake. U.S. 411/S.R. 20 provide access to Rome and Gadsden through the northern Cartersville city limits. The stretch of S.R. 20 from I-75 to its multiplex with U.S. 41 and U.S. 411 is a very congested point, due many travelers utilizing the U.S. 411/S.R. 20 expressway to reach Rome and Gadsden. There have been talks of building a freeway from I-75 to the current Rome expressway on the northwestside of Cartersville, but that's still on paper, as of now.

Currently, GDOT is building the Emerson-Cartersville bypass, which will become apart of State Route 113. The bypass will utilize Red Top Mountain and Old Alabama roads, along with a new connector, currently under construction.


Current route to Rome from I-75
(courtesy of maps.google.com)

U.S. 411 Connector detail (connectivity improvements)
(courtesy of GDOT, by way of GRG)

Chat About Emerson-Cartersville Bypass
(courtesy of city-data.com)

Red Top Mountain/Old Alabama Roads (current routing)
(courtesy of maps.google.com)

Twitter

Hey, y'all. It's me, Bryant, again.

I wasn't a big proponent of Twitter, at first, as I felt that it was pointless. The reason that I felt that way was because I was like, "Why would anyone want an update of frivolous stuff going on in my life?" So, just for the heck of it, I joined; it isn't as bad as I thought that it would be. Since I joined it yesterday, I have 41+ tweets. I wanted "Southern Roadgeek" as my handle, but it wouldn't fit, so I went with "SoRoadgeek."

Check me out on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/SoRoadgeek/.

Emory Village Roundabout

Hey, y'all. It's me, Bryant, again.

The Emory Village, which is centered around Emory Univeristy just northeast of the Atlanta city limits, is getting another roundabout. There's currently a mini-roundabout, if you will, at the intersection of North Decatur Road and Lullwater Road. The intersection that's getting the roundabout -- North Decatur Road, Oxford Road and Dowman Drive (Emory University's entrance) -- is a five-leg intersection, with each direction on its own separate signal phase. There are also plans to give North Decatur Road a road diet, making North Decatur one lane each direction for through traffic, with a double left turn-only lane, to facilitate left turning traffic.

Just a few things to remember when driving through a roundabout: traffic inside of the circle has right-of-way; pedestrians in the crosswalks do as well. If there's no conflicting traffic, do no stop; keep moving. Additionally, in multi-lane roundabouts, choose your lane position early; do not change lanes inside of a roundabout. Lastly, slow down and pay attention to what's going around you. I know. I know. It's hard with trying to text, talk on a cell phone, read the paper, put on make-up, etc. while driving, but try not to to do these things. :-D

Emory Village New Roundabout
(courtesy of myfoxatlanta.com)

More on Emory Village New Roundabout
(courtesy of emory.edu)

Video on How to Drive Roundabout
(courtesy of YouTube user MORPCSafety)