Freemanville Road is open again over Cooper Sandy Creek. GDOT reopened the new bridge Friday, ending a detour that began May 26. Crews stay on site for months.

The Freemanville Road bridge over Cooper Sandy Creek is open again. Traffic can cross in both directions for the first time since May 26.

A Georgia Department of Transportation crew opened the new bridge Friday afternoon, the city of Milton said in a news release Monday. That is more than a week ahead of the projected opening at the end of October, the city said.

The reopening ends five months in which the old bridge was closed, torn down and rebuilt from scratch. It also ends the detour that sent Freemanville Road drivers around the closure.

Work is not finished

The bridge is open, but the project is not done. Crews will be working around the bridge “over the coming months” on other parts of the same project, the city said. It asked drivers to watch for workers in the area.

What the new bridge has

GDOT is replacing the bridge in full after its inspectors found a new one was needed, the city said when early work began in October 2025. The finished bridge has:

  • one 11-foot lane in each direction
  • shoulders
  • space for a future multiuse path on one side

The bridge sits south of Providence Road and north of Landrum Road. GDOT runs the whole project, including construction and detours. The city has had no direct role beyond keeping residents informed, it said in April.

GDOT’s contractor is Williams Contracting, the city said in a July 10 update. At that point the old bridge was gone, and crews were preparing to set prestressed concrete beams for the new one.

How the closure ran

  • October 2025: Crews began clearing trees and moving utilities along a work zone of roughly half a mile.
  • May 7, 2026: GDOT’s original closure date.
  • May 26: The bridge closed, pushed back at the city’s request so the detour started after the school year ended.
  • August 2026: School traffic was expected to be hit hardest, with Freemanville Road traffic detoured to Birmingham Highway, the city said in a May 1 release.
  • Friday, Oct. 23: The new bridge opened in both directions.

During the closure, Freemanville Road was cut off just north of Creek Road and about half a mile south of Providence Road. The city also closed Landrum Road, a gravel road, to through traffic so it would not become a cut-through. People who live on Landrum Road kept access to their homes, the city said in its April 13 release.

Monday’s release does not say whether the Landrum Road restriction has been lifted. Watch the signs at the road itself.

What it means for you

  • Freemanville Road is a through road again. Drivers no longer need the Birmingham Highway detour.
  • Expect crews near the bridge. Work on the wider project will go on for months. Slow down in the work zone.
  • Check Landrum Road before using it. The city has not said whether through traffic is allowed again.
  • Get closure alerts. The city sends road closure text alerts; sign up at miltonga.gov/Notifications.

For more on the roads and areas around the bridge, see our guide to Milton’s neighborhoods.