Gwinnett County is proposing to construct a hard surface multi-use trail or bike path along the west and north side of a 5 .32 km length of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, along the north side of a 3.62 km length of Pleasant Hill Road, and along the west side of a 0.80 km length of Rogers Bridge Road, all in western Gwinnett County. These proposed projects may use federal highway funds (Transportation Enhancement Activities funds for two of the projects and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds for the other two), and thus an archeological survey was required to ensure that significant sites (i.e., those eligible to the National Register of Historic Places) are not adversely affected. The trails on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Rogers Bridge Road will be 3.0 to 3.6 m wide, with all construction to take place within existing highway right-of-way, and within 9 m of the edge of pavement. The trail along Pleasant Hill Road will be 1.5 m wide, with all construction to take place within existing highway right-way and within 6 m of the edge of pavement. The project area was archeologically surveyed by the author on April 13, 2000.
The Georgia Archeological Site Files was examined to learn of known sites within this project area. A cluster of 24 sites is recorded around Rogers Bridge Road in close vicinity to the project area. Only two of these sites possibly adjoin the project area. One (9GW367) consists of a single quartz flake and the other (9GW370) is a twentieth century house site. Both were listed with eligibility to the National Register as unknown. We found no trace of the single flake site and revisited the house site. The house site contained several houses during the twentieth century, and the one closest to the project area, but still not within it, is the latest house, dating to about 1950. It has since been replaced with a mobile home. The oldest house on this site, shown in 1938 aerial photographs, was located about 60 m west of Rogers Bridge Road and was not investigated because it is well outside of the project area. We recommend that the portion of9GW370 within or near the project area (it is doubtful that any part of the site is actually within the project area) is not eligible for the National Register.
All of the project area beyond Rogers Bridge Road is confined to cut, filled, graded and developed shoulders of the newly built or newly enlarged roadways. Shovel testing of undeveloped tracts adjacent to project area failed to detect any sites. Our survey detected no archeological sites within the project's area of potential effect. We conclude that the project will have no adverse effects on significant cultural resources.
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