Construction is scheduled to begin on 10 miles of new express toll lanes on I-85 in North Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Transportation held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday in Buford.
The project calls for adding one express toll lane in each direction of the interstate, extending existing express lanes from Old Peachtree Road to Hamilton Mill Road in Gwinnett County. Once they’re complete, the new I-85 express lanes will be managed by a variable priced tolling system operated by the State Road and Tollway Authority.
The project includes resurfacing existing travel lanes and construction of two new auxiliary lanes in the north and southbound lanes near GA 20. It also calls for an extended I-85 southbound bridge and new I-85 express lanes bridge northbound at the I-85/I-985 interchange to accommodate future improvements to I-985.
The $178 million design-build project is expected to be completed by summer of 2018.
