ALPHARETTA, GA — Commuters traveling through Alpharetta will lose a key east / west route this summer. The City of Alpharetta will close Rucker Road for major road construction work along the corridor. The closure, which coincides with summer break for Fulton County Schools, will begin May 28 and is expected to remain in place until August 10.

Only residents who live within the closure area will be able to access the impacted sections of the road. Motorists who use Rucker Road as part of their daily commute are encouraged to instead detour down Houze Road / Ga. 140 to Hembree Road to Ga. 9. Rucker Road will be closed from the Alpharetta city limits near Houze Road / Ga. 140 to Wills Road. The closure will allow for the replacement of a bridge and for additional construction work that is part of a planned $18.5 million improvement project.

"While we have to close the road in order to replace a bridge, we will also be constructing roundabouts at two locations and rebuilding much of the road, quite literally, from the ground up," Alpharetta Director of Public Works Pete Sewczwicz said in a release. "The ability to completely close the road for two summers is also allowing us to complete a 3-year construction project in less than two years. No matter how we do the work there will be an inconvenience to the public, but this will let us get through the project and out of everyone's way a lot faster." Sewczwicz explained in the release that there is not sufficient space along Rucker Road in which to construct a temporary bridge so the road could remain open.

Rucker Road was closed for nearly three months during summer 2018 while a second bridge was replaced and utilities along the corridor were moved. The impacts of that closure were magnified, however, when the city was forced to simultaneously close a large portion of nearby Mayfield Road for an emergency culvert replacement. That meant that two roads that see heavy east / west commuter traffic during rush hours were unavailable, creating considerable congestion and delays on roads never intended to carry commuters. "We understand that the closure of Rucker Road for three months will significantly inconvenience residents who live along it as well as a large number of commuters who travel to and from Alpharetta from Cherokee and Cobb Counties," Sewczwicz said in the release. "Unfortunately, that is unavoidable, but we will not see anywhere near the impacts that happened last year because there will not be other significant road closures happening at the same time."