Ball Ground Bypass planning advances City scopes out new railroad crossing

Responding to a state request t o s ubmit paper work f or a preferred alignment for the Ball Ground Bypass, Cherokee County commissioners have approved paying their consultant an additional $ 25,180 to prepare the document.

VHB Inc. will prepare a Georgia Department of Transport a t i o n C o n c e p t Re p o r t f o r the alignment, according to a county staff report.

The county is working with GDOT on the project; VHB’S total compensation increases to $ 271,780.

“The potential bypass route begins on the southeast side of downtown Ball Ground, i n t he vi c i ni t y of t he i ntersection of Ga. 372 and Flatbottom Trail; then continues southeast, crossing Northridge Road and t he rail road; and ends at the intersection of Ball Ground Highway ( Old Hwy. 5) and Howell Bridge Road south of the downtown,” staff said.

The bypass, to t ake t ruck traffic off downtown streets, would be roughly 1 .7 miles long.

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The Woodstock City Council has approved spending $ 19,890 to have an engineering consultant draw up plans and cost estimates for extending Mill Street downtown, across the Georgia Northeastern Railroad tracks, to connect to Wheeler Street.

The consult ant , Arc adi s , will work with the cit y and railroad company to develop a schematic conceptual layout of the new rail crossing.

The work is early- stage planning; it does not include such elements as preliminary engineering, right- of- way plans, final engineering or construction.

Arcadis will be paid out of budgeted reserves in SPLOST V funds, staff said.