CUMMING — A stretch of Sanders Road near Lake Lanier will reopen on May 26, three years and one week after the collapse of a nearby dam ultimately led to its closure.
During its meeting Tuesday night, the Cumming City Council voted 5-0 to approve the reopening of the portion of Sanders between Buford Dam and Mary Alice Park roads.
The road caved in as a result of excess water and sediment moving underneath it through an undersized culvert after the earthen dam holding back the former Lake Alice breached on May 19, 2013.
“We have Sanders Road just about ready for opening from the constructions that’s been going on for the last several months,” said Mayor H. Ford Gravitt.
The reopening likely will be welcome news to residents of Cumming and eastern Forsyth County. That stretch of Sanders previously served as a popular traffic cut-through, passing through a heavily wooded residential area and along Lanier.
Reached Tuesday, Scott Morgan, the city’s planning and zoning director, said the road project involved removing the damaged former section and old culvert.
“Then they installed a new double box culvert and then had to reinstall the utilities on the west side of the road,” Morgan said. “I think there was water and gas. They had to, of course, put in the wing walls on the upper and lower side.
“Then [they had to] rebuild the shoulders of the road, and they actually built those shoulders wider, bigger than they were.”
Work on the road began in November with an initial completion date of Dec. 31, though work was delayed by periods of heavy rain.
“It’s pretty much done at this point. I think they’re out doing some minor cleanup,” Morgan said. “They had just recently fired up that high-powered waterline and the gas line, and I think they want to make sure that those are going to be operating before they open it to traffic.”
According to Morgan, there isn’t an end date for a related project to dredge the neighboring Little Ridge Cove of Lake Lanier, which filled with sediment after the dam collapsed.
“They’re still removing sediment,” he said. “I think what’s happening right now is the soil scientists are back in there doing their follow-up information to see how much has been removed and how much is left to go.”
The city and Forsyth County government are splitting the $434,000 cost to reopen the road.
A ceremony will proceed the reopening of the road at 10 a.m. May 26.
Anyone wishing to attend is directed to park in the right lane of Sanders, regardless of whether they enter from Buford Dam or Mary Alice Park roads.