Assessment of Conditional No Adverse Effect to Archaeological Sites 9CO345 (NPS-5) & 9CO344 (NPS-6)

The proposed project consists of adding an interchange on 1-75 approximately 2100 feet north of the Chattahoochee River bridge in conjunction with construction of the Kennedy Parkway and related roadway improvements or relocations. Figure 2 illustrates the proposed project. Kennedy Parkway is a proposed east-west roadway between US 41 at Riverwood Parkway and Akers Mill Road. Construction of the project would relocate the existing Akers Mill bridges over both 1-75 and Rottenwood Creek to facilitate access to the proposed High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) system along 1-75. The Kennedy Parkway's proposed interchange with 1-75 is based on an Interchange Justification Report (IJR) previously approved by the Federal Highway Administration. The interchange would provide access to a road system that ultimately provides additional connections between all four quadrants of the 1-285 and 1-75 interchange. This area of Cobb County is the most urban in land use characteristics as represented by the Cumberland Mall area, Galleria complex, Interstate North and Circle 75 developments. Collectively, the area is commonly referred to as the Platinum Triangle. The amount of office and commercial development is projected to nearly triple by the year 2014. Additionally, 600 housing units have been forecast to be developed in the area over the next twenty years. Future land use trends predicted by the County's Comprehensive Plan and its Regional Traffic Study indicate that the current pattern of high density development would continue. Factors supporting this prediction are the area's interstate access, existing signature developments, which act as a catalyst for additional growth, and, steady growth of land values in this planning area. The Platinum Triangle's developments are of regional importance as employment centers equal to other metro Atlanta areas such as Perimeter Center, Midtown, Central Atlanta, and the I85 corridor. Construction of the Kennedy Parkway/I-75 interchange is identified in the Cobb County Transportation Plan and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Transportation Plan of Fall 1990 as project CO-R78. The proposed construction of the interchange was later adopted in the Atlanta Regional Transportation Improvement Program (1993-1998) in the Fall of 1992. Other important transportation projects in the vicinity include the Cobb Parkway (US 41) widening; the Professional Parkway Connector roadway, the Windy Hill Reliever Bridge over 1-75, and, the 1-75/1-285 Collector-Distributor (CD) system. All of these projects, except the CD system, are planned for construction to begin in late 1994.