Forsyth opens part of Ronald Reagan Boulevard Extension in south county

Forsyth County has opened the southern portion of the Ronald Reagan Boulevard Extension, giving drivers one lane in each direction between Shiloh Road and McFarland Parkway while construction continues north of Shiloh Road. For commuters, the change is less about a ceremonial opening than about a new way to move through one of south Forsyth’s busiest growth corridors.

The practical impact is concentrated in the stretch most drivers already know well: Shiloh Road on one end, McFarland Parkway on the other, with Ronald Reagan Boulevard now carrying traffic through the middle in a limited but usable configuration. County officials have described the extension as an alternate route parallel to SR 400, a road built to ease traffic flow and improve safety in a corridor where daily congestion has long shaped how people reach work, school and retail destinations.

The project is a major one. County materials describe the extension as roughly four miles long, with four lanes and a raised median, designed to connect the tail end of Ronald Reagan Boulevard to McFarland Parkway. When finished, the corridor is expected to carry more than 35,000 vehicles a day and complete a 16-mile Ronald Reagan Boulevard route linking Cumming to Alpharetta. The plan also includes new traffic signals, a bridge over Big Creek and wetland mitigation, with a budget of about $60 million.

Drivers should not assume the opening means the whole corridor is complete. Work is still active north of Shiloh Road, and county traffic notices in May warned of intermittent lane closures and traffic pattern shifts along the project area. In April, county updates said the traffic signals at Shiloh Road and Technology Drive had been activated while the southern portion remained open, a sign that the corridor is still in a transition phase even as traffic begins to use it.

The road’s opening also reflects how long Forsyth has been building toward this connection. County records show a related Ronald Reagan Boulevard extension from McGinnis Ferry Road and Union Hill Road to McFarland Parkway was completed and opened by December 2009, widening that segment to four lanes. County records also tie the project to a Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank award, a 2014 Forsyth County Transportation Bond commitment and 2023 change orders involving G.P.’s Enterprises, Inc. The 2024 Forsyth County Comprehensive Transportation Plan update, adopted Aug. 1, 2024, folded the extension into the county’s 20-year transportation strategy.

For south Forsyth, the opening brings a real routing option now, not just a future promise. The biggest relief should be for drivers trying to move between Shiloh Road, Technology Drive and McFarland Parkway without relying solely on SR 400, even as construction continues to shape traffic around the unfinished northern segment.