While work on the Interstate 20/Hwy. 5 Interchange appears to be a few years away from starting, in the meantime the interchange itself will have a new look in order to step up efforts to “Keep Douglasville Beautiful.” The city has applied for a Roadside Enhancement and Beautification Council (REBC) grant to beautify the intersection. Not much is known about the actual plan or design of the project except that the city council tonight will authorize the mayor to sign the agreement and to authorize a maintenance agreement with GDOT and the City to help maintain it. The REBC grants help local cities roadways under state control for the purposes of landscaping and adding fixtures and lighting. This includes interstate highways, as well as state-maintained federal highways, state routes and state limited-access roads (such as GA 400). We’ll keep up with progress and snap plenty of pictures of the final result.
***Note: This is a completely separate project from any work to the interchange that is to come over the next few years. Plans and designs are being done to reconstruct the actual interchange as well as the Hwy 5/Douglas Blvd. intersection, which will begin in the next two years. Frustration over the traffic and gridlock at the interchange is of course understandable and expected. We are simply reporting the plans to spruce up the interchange. With the beautification, as well as plans to reconstruct the interchange, navigating the Hwy 5/Interstate 20 will someday be a pleasant experience.
