Motorists will soon see a sign of the times. Literally.
The City of Augusta’s Traffic Engineering Division will begin installing the ubiquitous green and white “Golf Traffic” signs along major thoroughfares this week. John Ussery, Assistant Director for Traffic Engineering, said all the signs should be in place by the end of the week.
Those signs are one of the more low-tech ways to help visitors find their way to and from the golf course on Washington Road. Ussery held a media briefing to give an overview of the traffic plan that will be in effect for the 2025 tournament.
Much of it was familiar, including a change put into effect last year on Washington Road at River Ridge Drive. A temporary traffic light and crosswalk have been installed.
“River Ridge is on one side and Augusta National is on the other side. There is a lot of traffic that goes in and out Gate A1,” he said. “The other issue is there is a lot of patrons who use this location to cross the street. So, we felt that it was for safety reasons and to help expedite traffic flow, we worked with the state, and they allowed us to install a temporary traffic signal.”
Augusta coordinates with the Augusta National Golf Club (ANGC), Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, and surrounding municipalities to keep golf, and regular traffic, flowing smoothly.
The collaboration with ANGC produced a QR code that can be used to direct golf traffic to the patron parking lots. Visitors are advised to download Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Waze apps to their mobile devices and scan the QR code.
“My mantra was, turn off your GPS, turn off your GPS, but now it’s turn on your GPS and use the QR code and download the app,” said Ussery. “The app will direct you in the correct way to get around any closures or any detours that may be in place because of the volume of traffic, and how far it’s backed out.”
Ussery said on a normal day Washington Road carries roughly, 55,000 vehicles. It doubles that during Master Week.
A notable addition this year is a Ride Share lot created at the former TGI Fridays on Washington Road at Berchmans Road.
“If you use Uber or Lyft, or any other ride-share app, this is where they will pick you up, and this is where they will drop you off,” Ussery explained. “Normally when you use an Uber, you use your cell phone, and you call the Uber, and you tell them to come pick you up. Augusta National doesn’t allow cell phones on the grounds during the tournament, so they have a process in place for that. They can assist you with that when they drop you off at this ride-share lot.”
The traditional diversions will be in place during morning traffic heading to the course and for evening traffic leaving. In the morning, Washington Road exits off Interstate 20 will be closed starting at 7 a.m. Traffic will be directed to exit 200 for River Watch Parkway and then to Alexander Drive.
The traffic pattern will return to normal by 10 a.m. with restrictions returning from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“The intersection of Washington Road and Berckmans Road we restrict where you can turn left during the afternoon,” said Ussery. “If you’re on Berckmans Road, most people want to turn left on the Washington Road, but we do not allow that movement. We’re going to make you go straight. We’re hoping to take you all the way down to River Watch. Once you get to River Watch, that intersection is not restricted in any way, so you can go wherever you need to go once you get down there.”
Assistance will also be available for motorists who have trouble on the road.
“We have both CHAMP and HERO units coming,” Ussery reported. “We’ll have one HERO unit that comes to our area and stays here during the entire duration of the tournament. There is a CHAMP unit assigned to this area, but we’ll have an additional one coming.”
Motorists can call for assistance by dialing 5-1-1 on their cell phone.
The Masters Week traffic pattern is being rolled out through the week to prepare for the influx of visitors for the Drive, Chip, Putt competition on April 6 and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on April 2-5.
