Residents may see homes being torn down in the Sardis area of northwest Hall County, but that doesn’t mean construction is imminent on the long-awaited Sardis Road Connector project.

Right of way acquisition is expected to last about six more months, with construction possibly starting in 2023-24, County Engineer Frank Miller said.

Even still, real progress is being made on the project that’s been decades in the making. Final designs should be finished in about six months, as well.

“We’re finally getting (the project) off the ground,” Miller said.

Hall County is handling design and right of way acquisition for the project, with the Georgia Department of Transportation handling construction, he said.

Road construction, costing about $22.5 million, could take about two years to complete, Miller said.

Hall County budgeted $20 million for right of way acquisition and has spent about $6 million, with about 65% of the parcels “in closing or in the process of closing,” he said.

The county has a total of 34 parcels — 23 of which are residential — in the path of the new road, Miller said.

Maps of the route can be found on a Hall County website devoted to the project.

The project consists of widening and reconstructing several existing local roads with some new roadways between the Sardis Road and Chestatee Road intersection, extending northward to Mount Vernon Road’s intersection with Thompson Bridge Road/Ga. 60.

The first part of the connector will involve widening Sardis Road from two to four lanes, passing Fran-Mar Drive and Chestatee Academy. Ledan Extension will become a four-lane road, going past intersections for Chimney Rock Lane and Windsor Trail. Ledan Extension would be four lanes up until its intersection with Thompson Bridge Road. 

Sardis Road’s roundabout at Sardis and Ledan roads would be expanded to two lanes as part of the project.