The schedule of sound barrier installation following the Ga. 400 and I-285 interchange construction has caused confusion among some residents, and plans for toll lanes in the same corridor bring more uncertainty. Some replacement sound barriers might be demolished for the toll lanes.

Jill Goldberg, then the communications manager for the Georgia Department of Transportation, points to proposed locations for sound-blocking walls on a map of Ga. 400 at the Transform 285/400 project headquarters in Sandy Springs in 2017. (File)

A new noise barrier construction schedule for Transform 285/400, an interchange reconstruction project that is separate from the toll lanes, was released in April, and calls for construction to start in May 2019 at the earliest and finish by October 2020. The sound barriers are planned for I-285 between Mount Vernon and Lake Forrest; Roswell and Glenridge Drive; and east of Ashford-Dunwoody Road. On Ga. 400, the barriers would cover most of the highway from Hammond Drive to north of Spalding Drive.

But some of those toll lanes may not be built or may be demolished once the toll lanes project start, said Tim Matthews, the toll lanes project manager for the Georgia Department of Transportation.

“It may not fit with what out project is doing,” Matthews said at an April meeting.

The toll lanes could bring major changes to neighborhoods, including Talbot Colony where many homes are expected to be demolished. The sound level will be studied again which may change the size or location of the barriers, Matthews said.