The four-lane stretch next to the Kroger-anchored shopping center off Spout Springs Road in South Hall is now a road to somewhere.

As of this morning, Friendship Road/Ga. 347 motorists can use the strip to reach Spout Springs Road in Braselton, said Teri Pope, a Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

Previously, Friendship Road continued behind the Kroger and then connected with Spout Springs at Thompson Mill Road, a five-legged intersection known as "Duncan Corners."

A developer built the four-lane several years ago as part of the Kroger project with the notion that some day the DOT would use it as part of its realignment of Ga. 347. The road was only used so that customers could get in and out of the shopping center.

The DOT project, which calls for a two-phase $127.3 million widening between McEver Road and Ga. 211/Old Winder Highway, is several years away.

The new lanes are part of an overall effort to improve traffic congestion in the growing area. Other plans call for new lanes and traffic lights at the Friendship Road-Spout Springs intersection and Duncan Corners.