Part of Burnett Ferry to close for 2 weeks
Drivers will have to detour around the area at Mays Bridge Road starting Monday.
A portion of Burnett Ferry Road will close for two weeks starting Monday.
Burnett Ferry, at Mays Bridge Road, will close for construction work that will align Burnett Ferry with the West Rome Bypass.
Burnett Ferry Road will close to through traffic. Vehicles leaving town will be routed from Burnett Ferry onto Barker Road, then to Ga. 20. They’ll drive to Turners Bend Road and Mays Bridge Road before accessing Horseleg Creek and Ausburn roads, said Blake Nicholson, area engineer with the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Those driving toward Rome must turn onto Mays Bridge Road from Horseleg Creek/Ausburn, then take Turners Bend, Ga. 20 and Barker Road to reenter Burnett Ferry.
“There will be signs to navigate the driver,” said Mohamed Arafa, spokesman with the Georgia Department of Transportation. “These signs are very clear.”
Nicholson said the area will resemble an interchange once the project is complete, with Mays Bridge, Horseleg, Ausburn and Burnett Ferry connecting at the spot.
“There’s a grade change in there,” he added. “We’re going to move a lot of dirt.”
Construction on the West Rome Bypass led GDOT to close the road for two weeks, starting Monday. Construction began on the 5½-mile, $43 million project in November 2011.
It has an expected completion date of March 31, 2015.
“The project is on schedule and on budget,” Arafa added.
Eighty percent of the funding comes from the federal government. The remaining 20 percent comes from the state, Arafa said.
“We understand that the closure of Burnett Ferry Road at that location may cause some inconvenience for area residents, but it is necessary for relocating this road as quickly as possible, constructing this portion of West Rome Bypass and giving it back to the traveling public,” said DeWayne Comer, district engineer at the Georgia DOT office in Cartersville, in a statement.
The road project will construct and widen the West Rome Bypass from U.S. 27, south of the Coosa River, to north of Ga. 20.