Ridgewalk Interchange Is Now Open

UPDATE @ 5:20 p.m.: Patch has now confirmed the new interchange opened at 4:15 p.m. Friday

UPDATE @ 12:30 p.m.: Patch went to the site of the new interchange and spoke with an official with C.W. Matthews, who said the Ridgewalk Parkway interchange will be open "late tonight." 

Friday has signaled the completion of one of Woodstock's most anticipated projects.

The long-awaited Ridgewalk Parkway interchange opened late Friday afternoon, giving thousands of drivers another way to directly access Interstate 575.

The project entailed building a diamond-shaped interchange, replacing the existing Rope Mill Road bridge over the interstate, realigning Rope Mill Road to intersect with Ridgewalk Parkway and installing auxiliary lanes between the new interchange and Towne Lake Parkway. The new interchange will be Exit 9 and sits between the Towne Lake Parkway and Sixes Road interchanges.

City officials believe the new interchange will provide much-needed traffic relief on both Towne Lake Parkway and Sixes Road.

The city of Woodstock plans to hold a ribbon cutting to celebrate the interchange's opening at 10 a.m. Tuesday Nov. 27. 

GDOT in 2010 awarded a $17.1 million contract to C.W. Matthews to perform the interchange construction with a deadline to complete the project by Dec. 31, 2012. 

The project's completion comes ahead of the highly anticipated Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta's opening in August 2013. The 370,000 square foot facility will have more than 80 retail outlets, including stores such as Nike, Saks Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers, Levis, Talbots and Carters, among other stores.