Highway 316 Has Five More Years of Orange Barrels. Here's the Schedule.
GDOT's commissioner put dates and dollars on the Gwinnett stretch. The finish line is 2031.
Highway 316 Has Five More Years of Orange Barrels. Here's the Schedule.
GDOT's commissioner put dates and dollars on the Gwinnett stretch. The finish line is 2031.
What happened: Georgia DOT Commissioner Russell McMurry told the Gwinnett Chamber on Nov. 4 that the state's push to turn Highway 316 into a freeway with no traffic signals is targeted to finish by 2031.
The number that matters: $185 million. That is what the state's amended fiscal 2026 budget sets aside for interchange conversions along the corridor.
When it affects you: Now through 2031. The Hi Hope Road interchange is expected to finish in May 2029, and the Cedars Road stretch that September.
Illustration: The Gwinnett Loop
Twelve. That is how many intersections are left to fix on Highway 316, according to the state's transportation commissioner. Each one is a spot where highway-speed traffic meets a red light or a driver trying to turn left across it.
The state's answer is to replace all of them with interchanges and overpasses, from Lawrenceville to Athens. The plan is not new. Georgia announced it in 2021 with a price tag of about $829 million across Gwinnett, Barrow and Oconee counties. What is new is a calendar you can plan a commute around.
Gwinnett already has one finished piece. The county's $50 million interchange at Harbins Road in Dacula opened to traffic in March 2022. Most of what comes next in Gwinnett sits west of it, back toward Lawrenceville.
$53 million: the Hi Hope Road interchange. The state lists it as under construction. Expected finish: May 2029.
About $80 million: the project running from Cedars Road toward Sugarloaf Parkway. Scheduled finish: September 2029.
$185 million: the amount in the state's amended fiscal 2026 budget for interchange conversions along 316.
$14 million: the state's share for buying land for the interchange at Fence Road and Winder Highway, after Gwinnett commissioners approved a $6.22 million addition in April 2025.
Sooner than planned: extra funding moved up work at Williams Farm, near Rowen, by one year and the Drowning Creek Road overpass by two fiscal years.
2031: the target for finishing the whole program.
Who pays: Mostly the state. Gwinnett has put in its own sales tax money along the way. The Harbins Road interchange was built with 2014 and 2017 SPLOST dollars, and the county matched nearly $2 million from the state in 2019 to design the interchanges at Hurricane Trail and Winder Highway.
Who wins: Anyone who drives between Lawrenceville, Dacula and Athens, once it is done. So does Rowen, the research campus where UCB dedicated the site for its $2 billion plant last month. A freeway out front is part of that pitch.
Who carries the cost: You do, in time. Work at Harbins Road started in 2019. If the 2031 target holds, that is 12 years of orange barrels on one road. A target is also not a promise. These dates came from a luncheon speech, not a signed contract.
If you live or work east of Buford Drive, this is your drive for the rest of the decade.
Daily life: Hi Hope Road is the one being built right now. Expect the work zone there first, then east toward Cedars Road.
Money and traffic: The Costco approved for 2555 University Parkway is not expected to open until 2028 or 2029, around when this stretch wraps, according to a Lawrenceville City Council member. The shoppers show up about when the barrels leave.
Disruption: Two finish dates land in 2029, in May and September. The rest of the corridor runs through 2031.
The state posts the status of each piece on its Transforming State Route 316 page. County contracts tied to 316 go through the Board of Commissioners, which meets the first and third Tuesday of each month. The next meeting is Nov. 17.
Got an intersection on 316 you dread? Hit reply and tell us which one. We will track it.
In plain English: Highway 316 was built as a fast road with stoplights. The state is rebuilding it as a freeway, where you get on and off by ramp and never stop at a light. In Gwinnett, the county has listed five interchanges still to come: Hi Hope Road, Cedars Road, Hurricane Trail, Winder Highway and Fence Road.
Five more years of barrels buys Gwinnett a freeway to Athens. The state finally put dates on it. Now hold the state to them.
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Original Articles
Gwinnett Chamber: Moving Gwinnett Forward, a transportation update with Russell McMurry
Read on gwinnettchamber.orgGeorgia DOT: Transforming State Route 316
See the project pageGwinnett County: County cuts ribbon on new interchange at State Route 316 and Harbins Road
Read on gwinnettcounty.comGwinnett County: SR 316 interchange design agreement, December 2019
Read the releaseGwinnett County: Board of Commissioners roundup, April 2025
Read on gwinnettcounty.comAtlanta Journal-Constitution: Costco eyes new store in Gwinnett County
Read on ajc.comConstruction Equipment Guide: Georgia Gov. Kemp announces timeline for upgrades to SR 316
Read on constructionequipmentguide.comPartnership Gwinnett: UCB site dedication at Rowen
Read on partnershipgwinnett.com