Work is ready to begin on a widening project and enhancements for US Highway 41 between Paces Mill and Akers Mill Roads.
Upon completion in 2017, this one mile section of US 41, Cobb Parkway, will be increased to six lanes to address the continued growth of the area.
In a groundbreaking ceremony Dec. 6, CID Chairman Tad Leithead said, “We’ve been designing this project for 10 years. We didn’t know when we started that it would be for the Braves.”
Leithead, who also chairs Atlanta Regional Commission, noted that while the $52 million in road improvements will assist in traffic leading to the Braves stadium to be built in 2017, it will also improve access throughout the Cumberland area.
US Sen. Johnny Isakson, who was crucial to the development of the CIDs during his time in the Georgia legislature, stressed the importance of the area, saying that “five percent of Georgia’s economic economy flows through the Cumberland community improvement district CID.”
The six lane road (three in each direction) will have a raised median, and a 12-ft wide multi-use trail on the west side of the road. This is a sister project to the new bridge currently under construction over the Chattahoochee River.
The project is part of $53 million in improvements being advanced for US Highway 41 by the Cumberland CID. The road widening will cost $35 million to design, acquire right of way, and construction. The new bridge reconstruction portion cost more than $18 million and is on track for completion in 2015.
From the January 2014 issue of The Bright Side, Cobb County Georgia’s Newspaper covering Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton and Austell, GA.
