Only a few barrels block Hwy. 34 Bypass lanes
By SARAH FAY CAMPBELL
sarah@newnan.com
The new travel lanes on Newnan’s Highway 34 Bypass — other than a few new turning lanes that are still blocked by barrels — are now open from Hospital Road all the way to Bullsboro Drive for motorists eastbound, and from Bullsboro to just shy of Roscoe Road/Highway 70 for those westbound.
The rest of the widened roadway could theoretically open as early as Thursday — that’s when the new traffic signal at Hospital Road is set to go into full operation. The new light went into “flash mode” on Thursday and has to flash for at least seven days.
Striping and signal crews were seen working on the bypass most of last week.
Sign crews will have to return to make at least one correction. A sign at Jackson Street/U.S. 29 just south of the bypass indicates motorists are on U.S. 29 and Highway 16. It’s not Highway 16, of course. Highway 16/Carrollton Highway, also known as U.S. 27 Alternate, is where the bypass widening project ends, three intersections to the west.
The sign should say Highway 14.
U.S. 29 is also Highway 14, though very few motorists refer to it as such. The incorrect signage was still up Friday.
The project is set to be complete sometime in “early fall.” The general contractor, Sunbelt Structures, has been fined $1,000 per day since missing the Jan. 27, 2012, contract deadline.
