WOODSTOCK — The long-awaited Ridgewalk Parkway interchange opened ahead of schedule Friday afternoon and will be celebrated with a ribbon-cutting next Tuesday.

With access to Interstate 575, the Ridgewalk Interchange will give drivers direct access to the slated Outlet Shoppes of Atlanta set to open next summer and access to nearby amenities like Olde Rope Mill Park.

The $17.1 million project was constructed to provide traffic relief on Towne Lake Parkway and Sixes Road.

State and local officials will cut the official ribbon during the opening ceremony Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the diamond-shaped interchange. Parking will be available along Ridgewalk Parkway and Rope Mill Road.

According to Georgia Department of Transportation officials, construction of the interchange at Exit 9 has been completed on budget and the new interchange was opened to traffic Friday — a month and half ahead of schedule.

“I am proud that through our working relationship with the city of Woodstock, and other local and state officials that we could help another Georgia community meet its transportation needs,” said Georgia DOT Commissioner Keith Golden. “This new interchange will improve access to I-575 in that area of Cherokee County, as it continues to grow and develop; enhance the mobility of Cherokee County’s residents; and contribute to these residents’ quality of life.”

The project replaced the bridge over I-575, realigned Old Rope Mill Road to intersect with Ridgewalk Parkway and accommodates ramps of the new interchange. Additionally, auxiliary lanes were constructed between the new interchange and the Towne Lake Parkway exit.

GDOT awarded the contract for the project to Marietta-based C.W. Matthews Contracting Co. Inc. in late April 2010 with an official completion date of Dec. 31, 2012.

Work began on the interchange in early May 2010 and was completed at a construction cost of $17,103,631.

Since opening Friday, the Woodstock Police Department has not received any reports of issues or problems with the interchange, spokesman Brittany Duncan said Monday.