On the coldest day of the year, braving wind chills that sunk temperatures to below freezing, four members of Cobb County Department of Transportation (CCDOT) merged breakneck schedules to stand in one place at one time to take a photograph. The crew is that busy these days, and won’t be slowing down any time soon.
More than 730,000 people call Cobb County home according to U.S. Census Bureau. From 1970 to 2005, population in Cobb County grew by an unprecedented 237 percent. Three decades of rapid growth changed Cobb County’s landscape from rural to a mix of urban and suburban landscape. Continued growth is expected, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), which estimates by 2040, population in Cobb County will grow another 27 percent and employment by 50 percent.
As long as population keeps booming, business keeps booming, and traffic keeps booming, the CCDOT will continue planning, designing and building. The summer of 2016 is expected to be one of the busiest construction years on record.
The biggest traffic boom is particularly visible in the Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID), where more than 20 medium and large scale transportation projects will be concurrently underway within a 3-mile radius, from Terrell Mill Road to the Cobb County line at the Chattahoochee River, through spring of 2017. The area currently handles a combined average daily traffic (ADT) of more than 705,000 vehicles.
That’s even before Braves’ traffic ascends on the area in spring 2017.
The decisions and pressure of all Windy Hill and CID road construction projects, rests on the experience and integrity the Windy Hill lead team, which includes: Jim Wilgus, Interim Director at the Cobb County Department of Transportation; James Hudgins, Project Manager; Kevin Collum, Project Engineer; and David Baggett, construction ambassador.
“Most of the 20-plus projects were planned, designed, and approved, years before the Braves’ announced their decision to come to Cobb County in 2013,” said Jim Wilgus, Interim CCDOT Director. “Now it’s build time.”
Five traffic and safety improvement projects are planned along the Windy Hill Road corridor through March 2017. High crash rates and heavy congestion along Windy Hill Road are the reason for the $48.2, 2.5 year, multi-project construction package which includes widening roads, adding medians, intersection and safety improvements, and an innovative Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI). The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates 650 left turns can be taken per hour at a DDI, about twice the amount of a conventional interchange. DDI’s allow for free movement onto the highway, which prevents back up congestion as well.
James Hudgins, project manager for most of the Windy Hill projects, begins his day at the CCDOT at 6:40 a.m., and often doesn’t leave until the office the last email is sent, after 6 p.m. Hudgins’ 38 years’ of transportation experience is leading the way at a time of unprecedented growth. “The biggest challenge is keeping traffic moving while construction is moving,” says Hudgins. “That, and like any business, keeping the projects on time and within budget.”
Kevin Collum, project engineer, spends most of his day visiting project sites and evaluating what’s happening between contractors and crew. “Decisions are the most critical part of my day,” says Collum who overseas field management and inspection duties. “It could be as simple as making sure the right concrete is used that’ll make all the difference in keeping the public safe when a road opens.”
The Windy Hill and Cumberland CID projects are happening at the same time the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority is replacing 6.1 miles of 50-year-old drainage pipe along Terrell Mill Road, and the Georgia Department of Transportation is constructing the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes Project, which is 29.7 miles of toll lanes along I-75, from Akers Mill Rd to Hickory Grove Rd, and along I-575 from I-75 to Sixes Rd. The project extends through the Cumberland District. “We meeting regularly with GDOT to make sure we all know what each other is doing, and how best to let the public know what’s going on when so they can adjust travel as needed” Wilgus said.
Public outreach heavily involves construction ambassador, David Baggett, whose biggest challenge is helping businesses and property owners understand the value of something that won’t be completed for another year or more. “Cobb County really does dig progress,” says Baggett, “we mean it, but sometimes the public needs reassurance. It’s tough for them and we’re here to help guide them through the process which often involves waiting in long traffic lines.”
Progress is not without pain, unfortunately. Roads can’t close while roads are rebuilt, medians are added and bridges are reconfigured. To help motorists navigate through the monstrous construction, the County developed a user-friendly app, www.cobbcommute.org, to help the public evaluate real-time traffic before heading out the door. The easy-to-use web tool uses color-coded traffic speeds on major roadways while also providing a live-look at traffic camera feeds from around the county.
“These projects are, and will, continue to create lane closure, congestion, and, at times, major backups,” Wilgus warned. “This is a time social media can be your best friend.”
As long as people keeping moving and businesses keep growing in Cobb County, business keep growing, bringing with it even more cars, more people and more traffic. As long as that happens, it’ll be hard to get Jim, Kevin, James and Dave in one place at one time.
To find out more about traffic and construction projects going on in the Windy Hill and Cumberland CID area, log on to the County’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/CobbCountyDOT, Twitter @CobbDOT, and its website at www.cobbdot.org. You can also log onto a CID construction microsite by going to http://www.cobbcounty.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4218&Itemid=610.
