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S. Hall cities dress up roads into town
$50,000 in state grants have funded the work
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Solomon Lopez, right, and Sergio Lopez of Precision Landscaping Management of Athens plant a flowering dogwood tree along Atlanta Highway in Flowery Branch Saturday morning. Trees are being installed along the section of road entering the South Hall community.

Flowery Branch and Oakwood are dressing up main entrances to their South Hall cities by adding trees, plants and other landscaping touches.

"We feel like this is an opportunity to make a good impression on people who are visiting the area," said Oakwood City Planner Larry Sparks. "As they get off (Interstate 985), they would have a nice view and a positive statement as far as entering the city."

Oakwood is installing the greenery off the northbound exit ramp at I-985 as motorists head toward Mundy Mill Road, or at Exit 16.

Flowery Branch is putting in trees and plants along Atlanta Highway between Thurmon Tanner Parkway and Waterstone Crossing subdivision at Vireo Drive.

Atlanta Highway cuts through the heart of Flowery Branch, connecting with Thurmon Tanner at one end and the busy Phil Niekro Boulevard at the other.

Exit 16 serves as a major crossroads for Oakwood, with the state Department of Transportation having completed a $75 million widening and improvement there a couple of years ago.

Each city was awarded a $50,000 grant from the state DOT to do the landscaping work.

They were two of 22 cities and counties statewide that received funding from the Georgia Transportation Enhancement GATEway Grant to upgrade major roads entering communities.

Funding for the grants comes from fees paid by outdoor advertising companies to the DOT for vegetation removal at outdoor advertising signs, according to the DOT.

Oakwood is looking to apply for a new grant to beautify the southbound side of I-985 at Exit 16, Sparks said.

"If they stay on the same schedule, it would be this fall when we're hoping to apply (for more money)," he said, speaking of the DOT's schedule.

James Riker, Flowery Branch's city planner, said the city learned Friday afternoon that it has been awarded another $50,000 to extend the landscaping work down Atlanta Highway from Waterstone to the city limits, or near the city's sewer treatment plant.

"We will be required to do some design plans and submit those to the DOT to obtain a permit," Riker said. "Then, we can go out for bids (on the construction)."

The hope would be to do that phase of work this fall, Riker said.