Drivers who use McGinnis Ferry Road to connect between South Forsyth, Johns Creek, and the Peachtree Parkway corridor need to find another way through Sunday, July 26.
The road is fully closed 24 hours a day between the Sargent Road/Seven Oaks Parkway intersection and the Jones Bridge Road/Brookwood Road intersection, near the Johns Creek–Forsyth County line. The closure started Monday, July 20, and will remain in place around the clock until crews remove the barricades. The county noted the timeline is weather-dependent.
Crews are replacing a 72-inch storm drainage pipe between Sargent Road and Fawn Lake Drive. The pipe's size and position beneath the roadway require a full shutdown rather than the lane restrictions drivers have seen elsewhere along the corridor, according to Forsyth County.
Detour routes
The primary signed detour sends through traffic south via Sargent Road to Jones Bridge Road, returning to McGinnis Ferry at the Jones Bridge/Brookwood intersection. The route works in reverse for westbound drivers.
A longer alternative uses Peachtree Parkway, Sargent Road, and Brookwood Road. That option may work better for drivers heading to businesses, medical offices, or neighborhoods near the eastern end of the closure.
Hospital-route signs have been installed for anyone traveling to Emory Johns Creek Hospital. Drivers with medical appointments should not rely on McGinnis Ferry as a direct route through the closed section.
Deer Lake residents affected
Residents of the Deer Lake subdivision cannot use the entrance at Fawn Lake Drive and McGinnis Ferry Road during construction. Forsyth County directs them to use the neighborhood's alternate entrance from Peachtree Parkway.
Local traffic is still permitted on McGinnis Ferry up to the Seven Oaks Boulevard/Brassfield Drive intersection. The road is fully closed between that point and Sargent Road.
Part of a $44 million widening project
The pipe work is one piece of Phase I of the McGinnis Ferry Road widening, a three-year project that will expand approximately 2.5 miles of roadway from two lanes to four between Douglas Road and Hospital Parkway. Forsyth County is managing construction, with CMES Inc. as the roadway contractor and Jacobs Engineering providing inspection services.
The corridor carried more than 20,000 vehicles per day and was already 55 percent over its design capacity as of the project's March 2025 groundbreaking, according to Rudy Bowen, GDOT District 6 Transportation Board member. "That in itself can explain why we see congestion and backups," Bowen said at the March 11, 2025, ceremony.
Phase I funding totals approximately $44 million: $20 million from GDOT, $14.4 million from Forsyth County, $8.1 million from Johns Creek, and $1.5 million from Fulton County Water and Sewer. Forsyth County projects construction continuing into spring 2028.
Emergency responders have been notified of the closure and designated detour routes, according to Forsyth County.
For questions about the closure, Forsyth County directed the public to contact Bo Waldroup at Jacobs Engineering: [email protected].
