A makeover is on its way for a gateway road into southwestern Cherokee County.

The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night approved a $207,866 contract with Butch Thompson Enterprises for the construction of an enhancement project on Wade Green Road.

In a related motion, the board also approved a $222,660 contract with Cobb EMC for the installation of pedestrian lighting as part of the project.

Commissioner Karen Bosch, who represents that area of the county, said improving the road was on her original to-do list when she first took office in 2005.

"It looks so pitiful," she said about Wade Green Road as it enters Cherokee County.

The project, which extends along the road from Highway 92 to the Cobb County border, includes the installation of stamped colored concrete median and sidewalk paving, median landscaping and lighting on both sides of the road. It will also include a monument sign.

The new look for the southwestern corridor could be unveiled by this spring.

Geoff Morton, director of public works for the county, said work on the project could start by mid- to late February and be complete in May.

The project is being funded in part by $275,000 from the state Department of Transportation. The balance is funded by Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenues.

Mrs. Bosch said the project will match what the county is doing in the Bells Ferry Livable Centers Initiative area. That area covers the three-mile corridor that stretches from the Cobb County line to Kellogg Creek Road and Highway 92 from Santa Fe Trail to Woodland Drive.

The Bells Ferry LCI plan, which was developed by county officials with input from the community, calls for more commercial development along Bells Ferry Road at its intersections with Highway 92 and Eagle Drive and the addition of more residential areas. It also entails the building of new roads, sidewalks and streetscapes.

"It will help to enliven that area," she said of the Wade Green Road improvements. "It makes it more attractive for business and residential development."

She said starting the construction will now show people that the county government still is focused on revitalizing the area.

"This is happening at a great time," she said. "Having these changes done now, people will feel good about it."

Karlene Shiver, a real estate agent who works in the area, said she is happy to hear the long-awaited upgrade is on the way.

"Anything they do to help the southwest part of the county is long overdue," she said.