Four lanes before Thanksgiving on Ga. Highway 54 West in Peachtree City?

It’s not a joke. A small part of the project will have two lanes in both directions completed before Thanksgiving, as long as its not thrown off schedule by weather or other problems, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

But you’ll have to wait until mid-summer for the whole road to be completed. The project is still on schedule to be wrapped up by June 30, DOT officials said.

The small stretch of road that should have all four lanes ready to go by Thanksgiving extends from Ga. Highway 74 to Marketplace Connector. That’s little comfort for anyone having to travel in the construction zone now, as the re-routing of traffic to new lanes for a small distance has caused further slowdowns and delays in the area.

The old bridge over Line Creek has been removed and construction has begun on the new bridge that will span the waterway, which also serves as the boundary between Fayette and Coweta counties, said Dorothy Daniel of the DOT. Also, crews are bringing the southern section of the road up to grade between Hwy. 74 and MacDuff Parkway, Daniel said.

Motorists are already driving on the new bridge built over the CSX railroad near Marketplace Connector.

The $14 million project will include two pedestrian/golf cart tunnels to navigate over the railroad, a sidewalk system, a raised grass median and an unsignalized median opening at Line Creek Drive.

Also, the signals along the corridor will be connected with fiber optic cable so they can be synchronized to help traffic flow better, officials said.