County, Cities Collaborate on Transportation List

Gwinnett County’s “wish list” of transportation projects includes nine requested by the City of Duluth and several others that would benefit the city. The county and cities collaborated on the proposed regional transportation list. Local governments were asked to submit potential projects in advance of a referendum for a 10-year, one percent regional transportation sales tax to be considered by voters in 2012.

Duluth projects on the list and their estimated costs include the following:

• Four-laning Buford Highway, currently two-lane, from Old Peachtree Road to Sugarloaf Parkway - $14 million.
• Widening Buford Highway from two to four lanes from Sugarloaf Parkway to Ga. Hwy. 20 with a segment supported by cities of Buford and Sugar Hill - $124.5 million.
• Six-laning Pleasant Hill Road, now four lanes, from Howell Ferry Road to the Chattahoochee River, a joint request with Gwinnett County - $6.6 million.
• Expanding Ga. Hwy. 120 (Abbotts Bridge Road) from two to four or six lanes from Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to Ga. Hwy. 141 (Medlock Bridge Road) including replacing the bridge over the Chattahoochee River - $37.9 million. (Gwinnett County requested expanding Abbotts Bridge Road from two to four lanes from Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to the Chattahoochee River at a cost of  $9.5 million.)
• Improvements to Ga. Hwy. 120 from the proposed Hospital Connector to Hill Street - $2.9 million.
• Chattahoochee Greenway Trail - $2.75 million.
• Rogers Bridge reconstruction - $2.6 million.
• Phase 3 of the Western Gwinnett Bikeway to Sugarloaf Parkway - $3 million.
• Duluth Multi-modal Transit Center - $19.25 million.

Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Village and Gwinnett Place CIDs in conjunction with the City of Norcross proposed a five-phase light rail system starting from the MARTA Doraville Station to Oakcliff Road/New Peachtree Street ($68 million), continuing to Gwinnett Village ($262.5 million), proceeding to the Indian Trail Park & Ride Lot ($168.75 million), continuing to Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth ($243.75 million), and ending at the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth ($262.5 million). The Gwinnett Village CID and Norcross requested extension of the heavy rail system from the Doraville MARTA Station to Oakcliff Road ($140 million).

Gwinnett Place CID sought funds for reconstruction of the bridge at Interstate 85 and Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth. “The $58.5 million is for the future eventual replacement of the bridge with a single point urban interchange,” said Joe Allen, executive director of the Gwinnett Place CID. Reconstructing the bridge and reconfiguring it into a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) is a separate project, he said. “The DDI is an interim step that will allow immediate traffic relief. But eventually in the next 10 years we will need to completely replace the bridge and not just retrofit as we are doing with the DDI.”

For a complete list of the Gwinnett County projects, see the PDF that accompanies this article.

Gwinnett County announced that the list of potential transportation projects was submitted to Georgia Department of Transportation Planning Director Todd Long and the Atlanta Regional Commission March 30. These projects will be considered for inclusion in the metro Atlanta region’s project list in for the Transportation Investment Act of 2010.

Long will review the list and provide the Metro Atlanta Regional Roundtable with an unconstrained list for funding consideration. The process of selecting projects for the referendum will include public involvement and will continue throughout the summer and fall, according to the announcement.

Gwinnett County, the cities and four CIDs worked together to create the comprehensive, combined list. Gwinnett County submitted projects from the Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP), which is part of the county’s 2030 Unified Plan adopted in 2009. The cities and CIDs selected projects based on the CTP, corridor studies and other approved studies. Gwinnett County did not attempt to prioritize the list or constrain it financially.

The Metro Atlanta Regional Roundtable is made up of the 10 county commission chairs, a mayor from each of the 10 counties and the mayor of Atlanta. Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash and Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson represent Gwinnett County on the roundtable.

“In regard to transportation project list, I can honestly say that the Gwinnett County Transportation Department along with its Director Brian Allen have been great team players with the cities within Gwinnett," said Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris. “We ‘get it’! In other words, we know that our list should be reflective of regional projects that are good for this entire county and other edging counties. As cities, we realize that having a vision for this region is the only way to improve economic growth for all of Gwinnett,” she said. “I think the list is very impressive and reflects hours of hard work from all of the city administrators and county level employees.”

Gwinnett cities started the process of identifying specific transportation projects last November and began working jointly with Gwinnett County in January 2011, Auburn Mayor Linda Blechinger, the Georgia Municipal Association president, explained in the announcement. “This has been a cooperative, professional effort involving all cities, the county staff and our CIDs. I believe the comprehensive list represents transportation projects that are important to and can be supported by our Gwinnett citizens,” she said.

“Through this collaborative effort, Gwinnett County, its cities and CIDs have compiled a broad range of transportation projects,” stated Nash. “I want to emphasize that the submission of the potential project list is the beginning of the selection process. The public will have multiple opportunities to affect the final project list and will ultimately determine if the slate of approved projects is worthy of a positive vote in the referendum.”

"I believe the joint effort of the Gwinnett cities, the county and CIDs have resulted in a good first step of the process outlined in the 2010 Transportation Investment Act,” said Johnson. “I trust that Gwinnett's effort will help streamline the next steps required of the Regional Roundtable. Ultimately, our citizens will authorize the projects, and our voters deserve our best efforts to insure municipal, county and regional projects are all included."