Crews begin long-awaited work at I-20, Lewiston Road

GROVETOWN, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Crews have closed the Lewiston Road interchange at I-20 to create a diverging diamond.

The closure began just after noon Thursday and will last until 6 a.m. Monday.

“The personnel are going to come in on site and work nonstop until this thing is done so when we say we’re going to open at 6 a.m. on Monday, that’s the plan. If we can beat that, we’re going to beat it,” said Columbia County Director of Engineering Services, Kyle Titus.

The closure comes after the project has been delayed at least a couple of times due to weather conditions.

“The last thing we want to do is shut down this bridge and it rain or be too cold and more concrete and then all of a sudden, we have to stay closed until Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then we’re really having adverse impacts businesses,” said Titus.

The closure and detour of Lewiston Road/Horizon South Parkway at Exit 190 of Interstate 20 is tied to the reconfiguration of the interchange into a “diverging diamond.”

Brian Mead, who travels on Lewiston Road daily, said: “I’m excited about the diverging diamond because that’ll make things a little bit faster. I’m hoping that they thought it through enough so that makes things run smoothly. We’ll see.”

While new in America and unusual to many drivers, diverging diamond interchanges are considered more efficient and safer than traditional ones.

They allow nonstop and unobstructed turns when entering and exiting an interstate. That means no left turns against oncoming traffic.

“This section needed some help with the traffic. So, I mean, I understand you know, I hate that I couldn’t go to the right,” said Carol Bergemann, who frequents the Exit 190 area.

But they’re also a little counterintuitive at first because the normal traffic pattern is momentarily flipped: Opposing vehicles drive to the left of each other instead of the right. Concrete barriers help keep it safe, though.

“During five o’clock, four o’clock traffic is always bad and it’s always tough early anyway. So you like probably got to leave another 30, 40 minutes early, easily,” said Gilbert Sulivan, who lives nearby.

But now you’ll need to take a detour or avoid the area.

“We live near Augusta mall and my sister lives out here it takes normally like 17 minutes get here. It took us almost an hour just to get from Augusta mall to her this week. It’s terrible. Like, no matter which way we went, we detoured like three different times,” he said.

But not everyone can avoid the area.

“It’s been a lot. It’s been busy. Like it’s been kind of hard getting to work,” said Hunter Milton, who works at Kroger.

It’s a temporary inconvenience for now, but people are excited the convenience it will bring.

“I hope like when they get this done, it’ll be flow decently, it’ll flow greater and, you know, not as many wrecks,” he said.

These closures are planned from noon Thursday through 6 a.m. Monday:

• I-20 Exit 190 interchange: There will be no traffic access between I-20 Exit 190 and Lewiston Road/Horizon South Parkway.
• I-20 Exit 190 over: No traffic will be permitted across the Lewiston Road/Horizon South Parkway over over I-20.
• Lewiston Road between I-20 west ramp and William Few Parkway: No through traffic will be permitted along this section of Lewiston Road.
• Horizon South Parkway between I-20 east ramp and Gateway Boulevard: No through traffic will be permitted along this section of Horizon South Parkway.

The closures will include these detour routes:

• I-20 Exit 183, Appling Harlem Highway to the west
• I-20 Exit 194, South Belair Road/Jimmie Dyess Parkway to the east

Here’s the detour map:

Another closure

• There will be a temporary lane closure on Furys Ferry Road at Sullivan Hartfield Road from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Expect delays and seek an alternate route if possible.

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