Charlene Long, who lives on Pair Road just a few miles from the new road, said she was thrilled.
"I think it's awesome," she said. "For so many people it's going to expedite their journey. And I will absolutely be using this road."
Dubbed the Windy-Mac Connector, the four-lane divided highway runs 2.1 miles from Macland Road at Powder Springs Road to Windy Hill Road at Austell Road. The speed limit will be 45 miles per hour.
The connector will open to drivers immediately following an 11 a.m. ribbon cutting on Wednesday. Construction began in October 2008.
Cobb DOT officials have estimated the road will handle 27,300 vehicles a day by 2032.
Long is excited not only to have a more direct route connecting west Cobb to major thoroughfares, but hopes it will take traffic off her neighborhood streets.
Drivers headed west after exiting I-75 get dispersed along surface streets once Windy Hill ends at Austell Road, she said.
"We've lived through this traffic for years," Long said. "Personally, I have spent as much as 20 minutes trying to get from Austell Road to Powder Springs Road by way of Milford Church Road at 5 o'clock in the afternoon."
The $51 million project was mostly funded by the 2005 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and is designed to avoid stop-and-go traffic. This will allow for increased capacity and reduced travel time, said Mike Wright, an engineer in the Cobb transportation department.
"There will be a total of four traffic signals, one at each end - Windy Hill and Macland - which were existing but are being modified to function with the new roadway and two new signals," Wright said. "The new ones are located at the Post Office entrance near the Macland Road end, and one to provide access at Lamplighter Village."
A bridge was built at Callaway Road to avoid an intersection with the connector.
A connecting concrete pad also was built over the new road so as not to split parking areas from Jim Miller Park.
The project was originally scheduled to open last May, but Wright said it was delayed by weather events including the September 2009 floods, which set workers back for several weeks.
To acquire part of the right-of-way to build the new connector, the county struck a deal with the Cobb County schools district in September 2009. The county agreed to make $1.2 million in improvements to Milford Elementary School's property, which lies about 100 yards from the connector on Austell Road.
The county completed those school improvements last summer, which included a new driveway that will connect to the new road.
The school will keep one of its entrances open on Austell Road, but the other one has been removed. Several parents of Milford students insist the highway's proximity to the school is too dangerous and want the school closed.
As required by law, there will be a reduced-speed area near the school during student arrival and dismissal times. The school zone speed limit is 25 m.p.h.
Lisa Floyd lives off of John Ward Road and takes Milford Church Road to get to work in Smyrna. She said she is excited about the new road but is hesitant to say it will cure the community's traffic woes.
"It could be good and it could be bad," Floyd said. "It will throw more people onto John Ward who are coming from Dallas Highway and that could cause problems."
Floyd's co-worker Melinda Lowe, who lives off Macland Road, however, said she is eager to use the new connector.
"You can't imagine how bad the traffic is right now," she said. "It's just like living in New York."
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