The I-20 and Lewiston Road closure is scheduled for this weekend after being postponed several times.
According to a press release from Columbia County, the new interchange will now be closed starting at noon Thursday, Feb. 22 and will reopen at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26.
“This will be the 3rd postponement of the originally planned closure,” the press release said. “While we know this is extremely frustrating for the traveling public who utilize this corridor regularly, the repeated postponements of this major interchange closure have been warranted due to forecasted weather being too cold and/or too wet to complete the required work. If we were to close the interchange and the work encountered weather not conducive to the requirements of the construction being performed, the asphalt paving and concrete pouring would not be allowed to be performed, thereby forcing an extension of the closure for an undetermined amount of time.”
The closure is needed to finalize work related to the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) configuration conversion. The road closure will prevent any traffic access between I-20 Exit 190 and Lewiston Road/Horizon South Parkway.
The work will include realignments of lanes, pouring curb and gutter, pouring concrete islands, placing pavement markings, and reconfiguring, reprogramming and testing of signal equipment.
The closure will also stop any traffic for the I-20 Exit 190 Overpass, Lewiston Road between I-20 West Ramp and William Few Parkway, and the Horizon South Parkway between I-20 East Ramp and Gateway Boulevard.
During the closures, a detour will be posted for the interchange closure that the county will utilize.
The detour will cause traffic to be directed from I-20 Exit 183 Appling Harlem Highway (US 221/SR 74) to the West, and I-20 Exit 194 South Belair Road/Jimmie Dyess Parkway (SR 383) to the East.
“Please know county officials are working closely with the contractor and Emergency Services in planning the closure such that it closes and re-opens within the timeframe we have released to the public and inconveniences caused by the closure are minimized to the furthest extent practical,” said the county in the press release. “We sincerely appreciate the public’s patience as we work towards this last major step associated with the Lewiston Road Widening Project strategically, albeit weather dependent, to hopefully eliminate any extensions of the closure itself. Please feel free to contact Columbia County Engineering Services at engineeringservices@columbiacountyga.gov with any questions.”
