Ernest W. Barrett Parkway

Ernest W. Barrett Parkway (more commonly Barrett Parkway) is a major thoroughfare between western and northern Cobb County, Georgia that runs from southwest of Marietta, north and then northeast near Kennesaw. The portion of Barrett Parkway between I-575 and U.S. 41 is designated Georgia state route 5 Connector. The road is named after Ernest W. Barrett, the first chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners in the 1960s. The initial part of the road went through what was the Barrett family land.

Much of the original Barrett Parkway was taken from the two-lane Roberts Road, which generally went from U.S. 41 to Interstate 75 and served an area that was rural in nature. During the 1980s, dramatically-increased land development, most notably the extension of I-75 in 1977 (which cut Roberts Road in half south of Barrett Parkway), the construction of I-575 in 1980, and the completion of the major regional Town Center at Cobb shopping mall in 1986, strained the road to capacity, and was subsequently widened to six lanes (three in each direction) with a median by the Cobb County Department of Transportation. Turn lanes were only at the numerous traffic lights. In the mid-1990s, Barrett Parkway was extended by a completely new median-divided highway west of U.S. 41 to Georgia 120, west of the city of Marietta. This was briefly called West Cobb Parkway (which created potential confusion with Cobb Parkway).

Today, Barrett Parkway is densely packed east of U.S. 41 with major shopping centers and restaurants described by many residents as "strip-mall hell." (reference needed) West of U.S. 41, Barrett Parkway is mostly residential, but increasingly commercial near the intersection of S.R. 120 (Dallas Highway). The southeast side of the road is more affiliated with Marietta and the northwest more with Kennesaw. A large industrial park lies to the west. Stilesboro Road east from Barrett Parkway, and Old U.S. 41 south from it, meet at the historic Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, next to the visitor center.

When the road was extended, the county commission promised affected residents that it was simply a through-street, and that it would not be cluttered with additional traffic lights (except where crossing existing roads) or cross-traffic. It seems that this promise has been at least partly ignored, especially just west of U.S. 41 with the huge new Ridenour development, which has its own traffic light and was forested at the time the road was built.

Barrett Parkway is also unique in that even though it is a major area route, it remains under local control and was built entirely with county funds (with exception to the state route portion). Combined with the East-West Connector and Cumberland Parkway, the route doubly serves as a western by-pass of Marietta and connects the two major malls of the county, Cumberland Mall and Town Center at Cobb. The route could perceivably also carry a bypassed state route 5 in the near future as the city of Marietta has been planning to have it moved away from downtown Marietta entirely, though no action has yet been taken on that measure.

Renaming

In 2003, the county commission extended the name of the parkway southward along other roads. This included the short Ridgeway Road (to which the parkway itself was extended) which originally ran only from Burnt Hickory Road in the north, about one mile south to Georgia 120. Villa Rica Road, which was realigned westward at 120 to meet Ridgeway to complete the loop, also had its parkway-widened portion renamed. Where a new highway was built to replace Villa Rica Road, what became "Old Villa Rica Road" at the time was then returned to being just "Villa Rica Road" again. The very short Villa Rica Way at Georgia 120 still retains that name, but was the original northern terminus for Villa Rica Road before its realignment to meet Ridgeway.

As a result of these changes, the Barrett Parkway name now ends at the East-West Connector near Austell. Its northeastern end is at Bells Ferry Road, east of which it continues as Piedmont Road (not to be confused with the Piedmont Road in Atlanta). That road curves down around to the south, meeting Georgia 120 again on the other side of Marietta; here 120 is called Roswell Road.

Widening

Despite being only a few years old, the newer section of Barrett Parkway is already slated to be widened. After a small minority of residents approved a sales tax increase in a little-known referendum in September 2005, one of the projects to be funded is making it a six-lane highway from U.S. 41 to S.R. 120. [http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:LW8Ub8C2dRUJ:www.cobbcip.org/download/final_booklet070805.pdf+&hl=en] This would give it as many lanes as some much busier roads in the county, and would contradict promises made to residents before initial 1990s construction. It would also bring the highway right up to the backs of many homes. The project was expected at the time to cost nearly 50 million tax dollars, including 38 million from the SPLOST.

Interchanges and traffic management

The road was exit 116 and is now mile 269 on I-75. It was exit 1 and is still mile 1 on I-575, which originally had no northbound exit to or southbound entrance from Barrett Parkway. Those ramps were not built until the late 1980s or early 1990s, a few years after the mall opened. In August 2007, new ramp meters have been installed by GDOT on both the northbound and southbound entrance ramps, and will be activated along with the others on I-575 in March 2008, as part of the Georgia Navigator system.

Cobb DOT also operates a traffic camera at this interchange, at Mall Boulevard to its immediate west, at the southwest corner of the I-75 northbound intersection, and at Barrett Lakes Boulevard. Adverse conditions observed on these cameras are displayed on small variable message signs to drivers coming from the northwest on U.S. 41, or from the southwest on Barrett Parkway, just before old 41 (which becomes Main Street in Kennesaw and Kennesaw Avenue in Marietta). These are the last intersections before 41 and Barrett meet, allowing drivers to take an alternate route if necessary.

To the east, another camera is located at Piedmont Road and Canton Road, however there are no message signs in this direction. Elsewhere along the road, in either direction, there are no cameras or message signs at all. [http://www.georgianavigator.com/maps/atlanta/northwest]

East-West Connector

In southwest Cobb, at Powder Springs Road (original Georgia 5), Barrett Parkway changes name to East-West Connector, and bends southeast. Its intersection with Austell Road (currently Georgia 5) is a major commercial district, having many of the same stores which surround the county's two regional malls.

From here, it then runs east to South Cobb Drive (Georgia 280), through the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District. In order to protect the historic covered bridge (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and the natural area around it, it does not connect with Concord Road (called Spring Road through Smyrna), but rather goes under it. Additionally, the bridge carrying it over the highway has wooden siding, so that it blends-in much better with the area. A rust-colored steel bridge carries the Silver Comet Trail over the highway.

This area is also notable for the deep, gorge-like cuts into the rock, like between the Silver Comet Trail and Concord Road overpasses. [http://psr.southeastroads.com/gaphotos_ewconn.htm photos]

Cumberland Parkway

The highway becomes Cumberland Parkway at South Cobb Drive, and continues roughly northeast toward Atlanta Road (the original U.S. 41; called Marietta Boulevard nearby in Atlanta). The northeast corner of that intersection is now home to a mixed-use development, which is in contrast to the relatively undeveloped area around it. The road continues generally east-northeast and then north-northeast upon crossing inside I-285, and ends at Cumberland Boulevard, opposite the Costco entrance to Cumberland Mall.

Piedmont Road

This is the continuation of Barrett Parkway on the opposite (northeast) end, heading east from Bell's Ferry Road. From there, it crosses Canton Road (former Georgia 5) and Old Piedmont Road (a previous alignment), and the Georgia Northeastern Railroad tracks. It crosses Sandy Plains Road at the Sandy Plains community, and meets Allgood Road and then Sewell Mill Road before ending at Roswell Road (Georgia 120). This road was widened to four lanes in three phases during the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. It is mostly residential and entirely divided, with pin oak, holly, and other smaller trees in the medians, and left-turn lanes.