Replacement of Bridge at Forsyth and Hall County Line Up for Discussion

The Georgia Department of Transportation is hosting an informal open house meeting to discuss replacing the existing State Route 53 bridge over the Chestatee River portion of Lake Lanier at the Forsyth and Hall County Line.

The public is invited to the meeting scheduled on Tuesday, Dec. 13 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of Chestatee High School located at 3005 Sardis Road in Gainesville. Georgia DOT engineers and consultants will be available to discuss the proposed plans. 

The bridge opened in the mid-1950's and has just two lanes with a shoulder for each direction, according to GDOT spokesperson Teri Pope.

"Currently there is no real shoulder so if your car breaks down there is nowhere to get out of the travel lane," said Pope. "You are just stuck in the lane of traffic."

Pope said the bridge has served motorists well, but now is the time to replace it with a bridge that meets the GDOT's current standards and needs.

"When this bridge was built our world was a completely different place," she said. "Population has increased exponentially, vehicular traffic has increased exponentially...instead of one car for the entire family, each person has their own vehicle."

GDOT reports the new bridge design is still in the "rough draft" stage.

"We are meeting to get the community’s ideas for this bridge so we can incorporate them into the plan," Pope said.

Following the open house meeting, plans will be available on the GDOT Web site.

If you are unable to attend the open house the GDOT is accpeting comments for consideration in the development of the final project design. All comments must be received by Dec. 23 and mailed to:

Glenn Bowman, State Environmental Administrator
Georgia DOT, 600 West Peachtree Street, 16th Floor,
Atlanta, Ga. 30308.