Old Alabama Road Widening Project

The road improvement project to widen Old Alabama Road between SR-141/Medlock Bridge Road and Buice Road is scheduled for construction this summer.  This GDOT project is expected to substantially improve traffic flows along two Johns Creek major thoroughfares: SR-141/Medlock Bridge Road and Old Alabama Road.  The intersection of these two roads is one of the busiest in the city.  Details of the project can be seen at www.dot.ga.gov.

The one-half mile section of road between Medlock Bridge Road and Buice Road currently consists of three 12-foot wide travel lanes, two eastbound and one westbound.  The project will widen it to four, narrower, 11-foot wide travel lanes, including a second westbound lane, on the north side of Old Alabama Road from Medlock Bridge Road to Buice Road.  Therefore, much of the land for the road widening will come from the Perimeter Church green space.  Significant earth movements will be necessary to address the slope of the land and fill in low spaces for this new westbound lane.  This will remove the sidewalk and landscaping on the north side of Old Alabama Road.

Traffic on these narrower lanes will be separated by a raised median to allow for higher travel speeds while maintaining safety.  An opening and left turn lane will be provided in the raised median at the entrance to Perimeter Church.  A traffic light is not planned at that location.

At the intersection with SR-141/Medlock Bridge Road, Old Alabama Road will be made five lanes wide.  The project will maintain the dual left turn lanes and the one right turn lane from Old Alabama onto SR-141/Medlock Bridge Road.  Dual left turn lanes from 141/Medlock Bridge Road onto Old Alabama Road will be added to take advantage of the new westbound lane.

Buice Road will be widened to integrate the right turn lane onto Old Alabama Road and do away with the separate road that exists there now.

These improvements have long been needed to reduce traffic congestion and improve travel times throughout all of Johns Creek.  It is unclear, however, how long these traffic improvements will last given a recent rezoning request to build 263 apartments and 739 parking spaces at the southwest corner of the intersection of Old Alabama Road and SR-141/Medlock Bridge Road.  That re-zoning application proposes to slow and congest traffic on Old Alabama Road and Medlock Bridge Roads with the installation of a new traffic light and three curb cuts for traffic entry and exit very near to this intersection.  See zoning case RZ-14-005 on the Johns Creek city website (www.johnscreekga.gov).