Travel Delays Expected At Old Milton Parkway, Wills Road

ALPHARETTA, GA — The City of Alpharetta is advising motorists to expect travel delays and unusual traffic patterns at the intersection of Old Milton Parkway / Rucker Road and Wills Road. The traffic signal loop detectors at this intersection are not functioning due to the ongoing road construction associated with the Rucker Road Improvement Project.

Beginning on Monday, a police officer will be manually controlling the intersection to better handle heavier weekday traffic volumes. This will continue until the road is repaved and the loop detectors are replaced at this location.

Traffic signal loop detectors are simple coils of wire that are embedded in the surface of a road and sealed with a rubber-like compound. The coil detects when a vehicle arrives at an intersection, when the number of cars “stacked” at an intersection exceeds a certain number, or when a car enters a turn lane and uses that information to determine when the cycle of a traffic signal should be changed from red to green or from green to red.

The Rucker Road Improvement Project is for roadway and streetscape improvements along the Rucker Road Corridor from Wills Road west to the City Limits. The project is designed to improve safety and traffic flow while reducing vehicle travel speeds and providing pedestrian enhancements. This will be accomplished through narrowing travel lanes, providing sidewalks along both sides of the roadway, and adding aesthetic features such as trees, and planted medians. Safety and operational improvements will be made at key intersections.

This Bond project's budget is $16 million.

The existing bridge over Foe Killer Creek has been demolished and the replacement culvert structure has been installed. Waterline work is complete. Coordination of utility relocations along the corridor continues as does construction of retaining walls. Rucker Road was closed to through traffic beginning on May 28, and is scheduled to re-open on Aug. 10.

In addition to the bridge replacement over Hughes Creek Branch, other significant elements of work which will be pursued during the closure include the roundabouts at Charlotte Drive and Fairfax Drive and full depth reclamation of the existing pavement to strengthen the roadway base.

For an update on the Rucker Road Improvement Project, watch this video. For more detailed information on the project, visit the project website.