Phase 1 Archaeological Survey of the Proposed Improvements to Walt Stephens Road and Flippen Road Bridges over I-75, Henry County, Georgia

The proposed project involves the widening of northbound 1-75, for an auxiliary lane, and overlay of the existing three-lane section in Henry County. The widening of 1-75 includes the addition of a 12-foot auxiliary lane and a 12 to 14-foot paved shoulder. The widening and overlay begins approximately 1,511 feet south of the Flippen Road Bridge at 1-75 and ends approximately 370 feet north of the Walt Stephens/Red Oak Road Bridge at 1-75, for a total length of 6,200 feet. To accommodate the auxiliary lane, additional proposed improvements would include the replacement of the existing Walt Stephens/Red Oak Road Bridge and the widening of the 1-75 bridge overpass at Flippen Road. The proposed pavement types would match existing asphalt and concrete sections of the corridor. Existing guardrail and overhead signs along the corridor would be removed and replaced as necessary. The completed project would increase capacity and relieve congestion on this segment of freeway. Construction of the project would have minimal impact to the traveling public, with all of the existing travel lanes remaining open during construction. The proposed northbound auxiliary lane would be constructed within the existing right-of-way (ROW) while the replacement of the Walt Stephens/Red Oak Road Bridge would require a small amount of ROW. The existing Walt Stephens/Red Oak Road Bridge located at milepost 226.01 would be replaced. The proposed Walt Stephens/Red Oak Road Bridge would maintain the existing bridge characteristics of two 12-foot travel lanes. The new bridge would be located approximately 50 feet north of the existing Walt Stephens/Red Oak Road Bridge over 1-75 (parallel to the existing bridge). The proposed bridge dimensions are 380 feet long and 44 feet wide over 1-75. Additional ROW would be required and would vary from approximately 0 to 50 feet in width. The bridge approach typical section for Walt Stephens/Red Oak Road would consist of two 12-foot travel lanes with 10-foot (6.5 feet paved) rural shoulders, with a proposed design speed of 45 miles per hour (mph). The length of reconstruction along Walt Stephens/Red Oak Road would be approximately 3,800 feet and tie-in points of the alignment with Red Oak Road would be approximately 2,095 feet east of 1-75 and 1,710 feet west of 1-75 at Walt Stephens Road. The 1-75 bridge overpass at Flippen Road would be widened 18 feet eastward to accommodate a 12-foot wide auxiliary lane and a 14-foot wide shoulder. Additional ROW or easement would not be required for this improvement. This project has been surveyed under other P.I. Nos. and report titles. In April 2009, the Phase 1 Arch. Survey of the I-75/SR 401 Widening From SR 155 to SR 138, Henry County, Georgia was conducted under P.I. Nos. 0003167 and 0003436. This project involved the addition of one lane within the existing median for both the southbound and northbound 1-75 in Henry County making the existing six-lane roadway an eight lane facility. The project begins at the 1-75 bridge over SR 155 and end approximately 600 feet north of the 1-75 southbound off ramp to SR 138 (Stockbridge Hwy) just at the Henry/Clayton County Line, for a total length of 12.24 miles (Blackwelder 2009). In November 2009, the Addendum to Phase I Survey of the I-75/SR 401 Widening from SR 155 to SR 138, Henry County, Georgia was conducted under P.I. Nos. 0003167 and 0003436. In December 2009, the P.I. Nos. were changed to 0009156 and 0009157. In addition, a 100 foot buffer expanded survey corridor was examined during this survey as required by guidelines in the Environmental Procedures Manual, which encompassed the changes to the project footprint (Quirk 2009). Project description used for the survey of 0009156 and 0009157, conducted in November 2009: The proposed project involves the addition of one lane within the existing median for both southbound and northbound 1-75 in Henry County making the existing six-lane roadway an eight-lane through facility. The section proposed would not preclude the additional lanes from being "managed" by a HOV/HOT type system. The proposed project would begin at the 1-75 bridge over SR 155 and would end approximately 600 feet north of the 1-75 southbound off ramp to SR 138 (Stockbridge Hwy) just at the Henry/Clayton County line, for a total length of 12.24 miles. The limits of the project were determined from the logical expansion of the existing facility as originally envisioned to transition from a rural section to an urban section of interstate with a median barrier. The proposed pavement types would match existing asphalt and concrete sections of the corridor and provide paved inside shoulders. Existing guardrail and overhead signs along the corridor would be removed and replaced as necessary along with construction of sound barriers as determined by noise studies. The proposed project would replace the existing Walt Stephens Road (CR 660) bridge over 1-75. The existing bridge (Structure ID 151-0063-0) is 208 feet long and 34.8 feet wide. The sufficiency rating is 61.47. The proposed preliminary replacement bridge would be 380 feet long and 44 feet wide. The proposed typical section for Walt Stephens Road improvement involves the construction of two 12-foot travel lanes with 10-foot (6 feet paved) outside shoulders. The proposed alignment would be located approximately 50 feet north of the existing 1-75/Walt Stephens intersection (parallel to the existing bridge). The tie-in points of the alignment with Red Oak Road is approximately 1,750 feet east of 1-75 and 1,650 feet west of 1-75 at Walt Stephens Road. The total length of the proposed roadway improvements is approximately 3,400 feet. The existing Walt Stephens Road bridge would be demolished once the new bridge is completed. The proposed project would also widen the existing northbound 1-75 bridge over Flippen Road (CR 165). The existing bridge (Structure ID 151-0042-0) is 192 feet long and 135.1 feet wide. The sufficiency rating is 85.68. The proposed bridge widening would provide a 12-foot wide auxiliary lane and a 12-foot wide shoulder. Approximately 0.72 acre of additional right of way would be required from the north side of existing Walt Stephens Road and Red Oak Road to complete the proposed bridge replacement. All other proposed improvements would be constructed within the existing right of way limits of 1-75.