COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Work to replace a drainage culvert that has been in place since World War II will close a busy section of South Cobb Drive near Dobbins Air Reserve for two months.
GDOT crews will close a two-mile section of South Cobb Drive from Fairground Street to Cobb Parkway beginning at 10 a.m., Tuesday. Detour signs will be in place to help drivers get around the work zone.
It will mean challenges for drivers like Andrea Varela, who depends on South Cobb Drive to travel between home and work.
“The traffic now and a whole bunch of other things combined into one, now I gotta find another way to get to work and get home,” said Varela.
The culvert beneath South Cobb Drive is no longer handling heavy rain the way it should. The Georgia Department of Transportation noticed issues during a storm on March 9. According to GDOT, the culvert was installed in the 1940s when Dobbins Air Reserve was home to Bell Bomber, producers of World War II aircraft.
“It hasn’t been touched since the 1940s,” said GDOT’s Natalie Dale. “GDOT inherited this stretch of road in the 60s so it hasn’t been touched or looked at since.”
Replacing the culvert will be a time consuming process. While work is going for eight weeks, only employees of Dobbins and Lockheed who have to have access to that area for work will be allowed.
“If you’re part of the general public that uses this route to get around Cobb County, you’re going to want to take the detour route,” said Dale.
If there’s any bad weather, it could hamper work and keep the road closed even longer.
How to get around it
11Alive's Traffic Expert, Crash Clark, mentioned two detours that are the best way to get around:
Detour 1: This detour takes drivers from Fairground Street to South Marietta Parkway, which will put them back on Highway 41/Cobb Parkway
Detour 2: Another detour set up by GDOT takes drivers from Atlanta Road to Windy Hill Road, which puts them back on Highway 41/Cobb Parkway. This is a bit out of the way, but it works.