The proposed project would widen Old Covington Highway to a three lane facility with two 12-foot travel lanes, a 14-foot center turn lane, and 16-foot shoulders. Within the roadway shoulders, a five-foot sidewalk would be constructed. In addition, the proposed project would tie Green Street into Old Covington Highway just east of the existing intersection. The proposed right-of-way (ROW) would vary from 50 to 70 feet along Old Covington Highway and would remain 60 feet along Green Street except at the realigned intersection of Green Street and Old Covington Highway, where approximately 60 feet of additional ROW would be needed. The new Dogwood Connector alignment would connect to Old Covington Highway approximately 300 feet west of the existing connector tie-in. During project construction, traffic would be maintained on the existing roadway.
Project Changes: Due to more developed design plans, the following changes have been made:
1) The typical section has been revised from 12-foot travel lanes and a 14-foot center turn lane to now include 11-foot travel lanes and a 12-foot center turn lane.
2) The amount of required ROW has decreased from approximately 3.1 acres to 1.6 acres. The amount of permanent easement has increased throughout the project from approximately 2.0 acres to 2.3 acres. The amount of temporary easement has increased throughout the project from approximately 0.1 acre to 1.4 acres.
3) The approved 2005 Categorical Exclusion (CE) stated that the proposed project length would be approximately one mile with only approximately 4,725 feet of actual construction existing within these limits. The project limits/construction limits have been extended by 50 feet to the west and 30 feet to the east. The proposed project length would now be 4,805 feet (0.91 mile). The purpose of adding 80 feet to the project length/construction limit is to provide additional area to better tie-in the proposed project to the existing roadway.
4) A new service road has been added which would connect Old Covington Highway with Vaughn Road (West). The service road would consist of two 12-foot travel lanes (one in each direction). This change would allow a two-way connection to Old Covington Road from Vaughn Road instead of Vaughn Road being assigned as one-way.
5) The turn lane tapers at three locations along Old Covington Highway were lengthened 46 to 50 feet in order to meet GDOT requirements. The three locations were Old Covington Highway approaching Green Street, Green Street approaching Old Covington Highway, and Old Covington Connector approaching Old Covington Highway.
6) The connector road to Dogwood Drive, that is approximately 200 feet west of SR 20/SR 138, would be removed. The road would be grassed and graded to provide positive drainage.
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