Official ground breaking ceremonies were held this fall on two major highway transportation projects, the Northwest Corridor and the I-75 South Metro Georgia Express Lanes. Designed to alleviate heavy traffic conditions in some of the most congested corridors around Atlanta, the Northwest Corridor and the I-75 South Metro Express Lanes are expected to improve traffic flow, reduce trip times and bring economic growth to the region.

In September, Gov. Nathan Deal, state transportation officials and county leaders broke ground on the most expensive transportation project in the history of Georgia, the Northwest Corridor. The $834 million managed lanes project will add nearly 30 mi. (48.2 km) of reversible toll lanes along interstate 75 and 575. To complete the project, the Georgia Department of Transportation selected the Northwest Express Roadbuilders, a joint venture of Hubbard Construction Company of Winter Park, Fla.; Parson’s Transportation Group of Pasadena, Calif.; and Yancey Bros. Co. customer, Archer Western Contractors, of Atlanta.

Tasked with building one of the most important transportation projects in Georgia, Archer Western Contractors, chose the nation’s oldest Caterpillar dealer, Yancey Bros. Co., as its equipment and solution provider. Yancey Bros. Co. is providing Archer Western with more than 100 pieces of Cat and allied equipment, preventative maintenance for the duration of the project and full-time, onsite field service support to minimize equipment downtime. The Northwest Corridor Express Lanes are expected to open to the public for travel in early 2018.

The second major transportation groundbreaking ceremony was held in October when Gov. Deal and the Georgia Department of Transportation broke ground on the I-75 South Metro Express Lanes project. This project will add two toll lanes along interstate 75 south of Atlanta and extend 12 mi. (19.3 km) from McDonough Road to Stockbridge Hwy. Aimed at improving traffic flow and providing more reliable trip times for motorists, the I-75 South Metro Express Lanes will be open to northbound traffic in the morning and to southbound traffic from midday through the evening peak periods. The project will cost an estimated $176 million and will be built by another Yancey Bros. Co. customer, C. W. Matthews Contracting Co., headquartered in Marietta, Ga. The South Metro Express Lanes are scheduled to be open for travel in 2017.

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