According to Fayette County Commissioner Steve Brown, there is hope after all for improvements to the often-clogged interchange of Interstate 85 and Ga. Highway 74.

Several weeks ago Brown criticized draft plans for improvements to the intersection, but at last week’s county commission meeting, Brown reported he was encouraged about the project’s prospects after a recent meeting with the Fairburn city engineer.

Some of the options, Brown said, “can solve a substantial part of the problem … and we made some significant headway with the thoughts they put on the table at the meeting.”

The intersection is in Fairburn in Fulton County, although it’s a key link for commuters from both Fayette and Coweta counties.

Although the design of potential fixes for the intersection are underway by Fairburn, the final approval rests with the Georgia Department of Transportation.

In his previous criticism of the plan, Brown said it did nothing to deal with the tractor-trailer traffic that uses Oakley Industrial Boulevard to reach Hwy. 74 just south of the interchange. He also said the project wouldn’t create much “stacking room” for traffic exiting I-85 southbound and waiting to go south on Hwy. 74.

Brown’s fellow commissioners tasked him with working with Fairburn and other officials on the project.