The plans for improving Interstate 16 and the interchange at I-16 and I-95 have been laid out and are now open for public review and comment.
The state Department of Transportation is proposing to add a lane to both I-16 eastbound and westbound from the juncture at I-95 to I-516 and displayed is plans at a public information open house Tuesday at Garden City City Hall.
Reworking the I-16 and I-95 interchange will include new high-volume loops serving I-95 southbound to I-16 eastbound and I-16 westbound to I-95 southbound into direct flyover ramps. Two lower-volume ramps, serving I-95 northbound going to I-16 westbound and from I-16 eastbound to I-95 northbound will be reconstructed and separated from the I-95 mainline. New northbound collector-distributor lanes will be constructed to connect those ramps.
“If anybody sees the plan, I think they’re going to be very much impressed with the flyovers,” said Ann Purcell, the 1st Congressional District member of the State Transportation Board. “As we travel I-95 going into Savannah every morning, we won’t have the cloverleaf. I think you will see traffic moving better.”
The additional I-16 lanes from I-95 to I-516 will be built as much as possible toward the median.
“We are looking at the safety issues, and what we can do to improve the safety at this interchange, plus the mobility,” Purcell said. “You’ll get a better, wider road.”
Construction on the improvements is expected to start in 2019 and be completed in 2021. It will be let as a design-build project in 2018, and the environmental documents are expected to completed and approved by late 2017.
The flyovers from I-95 southbound to I-16 eastbound and I-16 eastbound to I-95 northbound also are expected to make it easier for big trucks to change interstates.
“We’ve seen a lot of trucks that have overturned,” Purcell said. “A lot has been taken into consideration.”
Purcell added the DOT is looking at extending the deceleration lane at I-16 and Dean Forest Road.
Crash data from 2013-15 shows accidents are below the state average but the number of incidents has risen from 281 in 2013 to 468 in 2015.
The I-16 project is the only major mobility enhancement planned for the state outside of the metro Atlanta area.
Public comments on the project will be taken until July 15 either through mail or electronically. The state DOT unveiled its new PIMA system, a public comment application, at Tuesday’s open house. Those who attended can use their smart phones to provide comments after they signed in and scanned in a QR code.
Online, comments can be made at tiny.cc/1-0012757comnt. Plans can be reviewed at www.dot.ga.gov/PS/PublicOutreach. From the menu, select the county in which the project is located and click Go, then select I-16 Widening and I-16 and 1-95 Interchange Reconstruction. There also is a Comment link to select.
The project displays and plans are on display at the DOT Savannah area office at 630 W. Boundary St. in Savannah through June 8.
“I am extremely excited about this rendering on display, and I am hoping we will have a lot of good feedback and good comments,” Purcell said. “Good or bad, we need to know them. This is the beginning of a project we hope can move quicker, because it’s ready to move.
“This is exciting,” Purcell added. “We’ve waited a long time. I’m not saying there aren’t hoops out there. We will have some improvements for I-516. Those have been on the books a long time.”
