Cherokee County Breaks Ground On Technology Ridge Parkway

Press release from Cherokee County:

Oct. 12, 2022

Around 100 people were on hand Friday to celebrate the groundbreaking of phase one of Technology Ridge Parkway – a new corridor that will improve access from the Cherokee County Regional Airport to The Bluffs, a location primed for corporate relocation.

Representatives from the State Road and Tollway Authority, as well as Gov. Brian Kemp’s office, the city of Canton, the Cherokee Office of Economic Development (COED), Cherokee County, the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce, C.W. Matthews, and business and community leaders attended the Oct. 7 kickoff of the long-awaited project.

Low-bidder C.W. Matthews was awarded the $9 million construction contract by the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners Oct. 4. A portion of the funding comes from a $1 million grant and $2.9 million loan from the State Road and Tollway Authority’s (SRTA) Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank program, as well as Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dollars.

“We must thank Gov. Kemp, who from day one of his administration, has been a champion and an advocate for all that we do with the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank program,” said SRTA Interim Executive Director Heather Aquino, adding GTIB has invested $182 million in projects across the state since its inception in 2010. “When it comes to opportunities provided by GTIB, the word competitive is important. You must compete to win GTIB awards, and I’d like to congratulate Cherokee County for receiving the largest grant and loan award in our most recent round of funding.”

Cherokee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Harry Johnston spoke of strategic initiatives in place to provide more employment opportunities for Cherokee County residents, allowing them to live, work and play in the same community.

“It’s not every day we start an entirely new road. A strategic new road initiative like this has not happened in my memory, so what an exciting day this is. Cherokee County is truly blessed with so much going on for us,” Johnston said. “One of our ongoing strategic initiatives is to provide more jobs in the county so more people don’t have to leave the county to go to work. This project has been on the books for about 10 years, and we wouldn’t be here today breaking ground if it wasn’t for our partners: the Office of Economic Development, the city of Canton and SRTA. It’s going to open up the biggest and most important economic development corridor that we’ve ever had. It will open up new front-door access to our airport. I say thank you to all these people who made this happen.”

Canton Mayor Bill Grant said the project fits well in the city’s Roadmap to Success.

“We were at a council retreat six to eight years ago, and I remember talking about The Bluffs and saying we really need to re-envision that whole area because nothing is really happening. I want to applaud our council and the Roadmap to Success we created, which is a 15-year plan for Canton’s future. This project fits so well into that,” Grant said. “The city of Canton purchased the remaining over 300 acres in The Bluffs so we could make projects like this happen and really spur more economic development in this area, not only business but also recreational opportunities and tourism, and connectivity and safety for our residents.”

COED President Misti Martin quoted COED Vice President Heath Tippens when she said, “Teamwork makes the dreamwork.”

“This has been a real team project. The collaboration has been extraordinary,” Martin said. “We can’t do our jobs without all of these people working together. For the longest time we’ve been trying to figure out how we can get better access on the northside of The Bluffs. All of these things coming together makes this area very marketable. We got some criticism from some projects that looked here asking if Riverstone and Bluffs Parkway were the only way into this project – thanks to you all for having the vision to get access all the way to the airport.”

The Technology Ridge project has been in the works for more than a decade – the Technology Urban Redevelopment Plan was adopted in 2011 and identifies the corridor from Bluffs Parkway to the airport as prime location for industry. Technology Ridge Parkway Phase I is a new roadway that will connect Bluffs Parkway to Heard Road and Fate Conn Road and will be just over a half of a mile.

The project will begin with a new roundabout on Bluffs Parkway and ends with a new roundabout installed in the Heard Road/Fate Conn Road intersection. Notice to proceed to the contractor is expected by the end of October with estimated completion of phase one expected in 18-24 months.

This press release was produced by Cherokee County. The views expressed here are the author's own.