$18 million in roadwork coming to NE Ga. | News

ATLANTA -- Four road projects in northeast Georgia have been awarded a total of $18.8 million by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Dawson, Forsyth, Hall and Madison counties will benefit from the funds and the corresponding roadwork, GDOT announced Tuesday.

"Many of the projects awarded are expensive, large-scale improvements to major interstate highways and other major arteries," GDOT Commissioner Keith Golden said in a statement. "Others are smaller jobs on less travelled city streets and county roads. But each one, regardless of its size or cost, represents an important enhancement to the safety, growth or maintenance of Georgia's transportation network."

Crews plan to extended the northbound lane of Ga. 400 from McFarland Road to Big Creek Greenway in Forsyth County. The work also includes an extension of the northbound Abernathy Road ramp.

In Hall County, crews will use the money to widen SR 347 (Friendship Road) from Interstate 985 west to McEver Road. The road will now become a four-lane divided highway with sidewalks.

The Forsyth County work is expected to be completed in late January 2013, while the Hall County widening will be done by late November 2014.