I-75 Commercial Vehicle Lanes (CVL)

Trailblazing concept

RS&H is trailblazing a new path for Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and the rest of the country with a first of its kind interstate commercial vehicle lanes (CVLs) project. The new CVLs will provide much needed additional capacity to support the second most significant freight corridor in Georgia, encompassing 40 miles from I-475 to SR 155, spanning from Middle Georgia northbound to the metro Atlanta area. This segment experiences tremendous truck traffic due to its positioning between Atlanta, the fifth largest freight hub in the nation, and Macon, the connection point for trucks coming from Florida (Georgia’s #1 trading partner) and from the Port of Savannah (the single largest and fastest-growing container terminal in the country). By addressing the state’s freight capacity needs, while also prioritizing safety by separating the CVLs from general-purpose traffic with TL-5 barriers, the RS&H team is creating a significant return on investment through enhanced safety and increased mobility of goods and people. Watch a detailed animation of the project.

Once in a lifetime project

RS&H serves as the General Engineering Consultant and Owner’s Representative for GDOT on this CVL project, which requires approximately 24 widenings, modifications, or replacement of bridges. Improvements along the corridor will include retaining walls, noise walls, overhead sign structures, drainage, lighting, signalization, and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). The CVLs will be barrier separated from the general-purpose lanes, creating separation between the two northbound traffic streams. This design will ease congestion and reduce the interactions between passenger vehicles and trucks, which will reduce the number of crashes and improve the reliability of the corridor. The RS&H team is responsible for concept development, environmental special studies, environmental document, public involvement, right-of-way plans, preliminary design and costing plans, utility coordination, developer procurement support, and design and construction oversight upon developer award.

Design for the future

Unique to this project is the focus on accommodating connected and autonomous vehicle technology to allow for future technologies, such as truck platooning. An Atlanta trucking firm, United Federal Logistics, fully understands the needs and desires to improve safety and mobility along this corridor. Watch their story.

Forefront in virtual public involvement strategies

During the COVID-19 pandemic, RS&H was at the forefront in developing virtual public involvement strategies. With consideration of social distancing practices forbidding large in-person gatherings and our Public Information Open House in the fall of 2020, our team developed a web-based virtual meeting space that enables users to access the space as if it was live and in-person. RS&H successfully implemented a virtual public meeting, which included a website with virtual meeting “rooms” and a live presentation and question and answer session with Subject Matter Experts. The virtual meeting included presentation of the concept design, a 3-D visualization of the project corridor, and the opportunity for submitting written comments. Meeting URL: https://0014203-gdot.hub.arcgis.com/

RS&H recognizes that with the length of the corridor, there are communities that range from rural to very urban, each with differing goals and objectives for the future. Understanding the need to address these differences, RS&H will ultimately be hosting multiple different Public Hearing Open Houses throughout the corridor. While the project information presented will be identical, the impacts on the communities, future growth, and development will be tailored to the applicable segment(s) of the corridor. RS&H continues to collaborate with city and county elected officials, both individually and through the I-75 Corridor Coalition, an organization of local leaders along I-75 between Henry County and Macon-Bibb County, to keep them apprised of the project status.

Expect an exceptional journey from start to future

The I-75 CVL project is one of GDOT’s Major Mobility Investment Program (MMIP) initiatives and is critical to enhance the transportation infrastructure and deliver positive benefits to drivers.