Starting Jan. 31, a section of Cox Road will be closed, and construction will begin on Auburn's third I-85 interchange.
The new interchange will be exit 50 and should be completed by July 1, 2012.
"There's also an auxiliary lane, which is the lane that connects the two interchanges, that will be parallel to the Interstate, allowing motorists to go from one interchange to the other without getting on the Interstate," said DeJarvis Leonard, fourth division engineer for the Department of Transportation.
The project will cost $18.2 million.
Cox Road will remain open from Wire Road to Veterans Boulevard (Auburn Technology Park), but will close from Veterans Boulevard to Hwy. 29, said Jamie Davis, project engineer.
"Only local traffic, which means only the residents at the trailer parks, pretty much, are gonna be allowed to come through there, and they can't go all the way through to Beehive anymore," Davis said. "You'll still be able to come up Wire Road and take a left on Cox Road, and you'll be able to come all the way down to Veterans."
Although Cox Road will close, I-85 will remain open throughout the construction of the new interchange.
"We will maintain two lanes at all times," Leonard said.
When completed, the new interchange will provide a higher level of service to residents of west Auburn as well as businesses in Auburn Technology Park West, Leonard said.
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