The proposed tunnel under I-285 in Sandy Springs is creating friction between the city and neighborhood leaders over the city's decade-long effort to make Roswell Road safer and more attractive.

The controversy is fueled by the potential that future state and federal funding could help pay to build projects that are included in the city's long-range plan to improve Roswell Road.

The tunnel appears on the city's list of projects that have been recommended by the neighborhoods, according to Mark Sampl, a leader of one of the city's largest coalitions of homeowners, the Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods.

But the tunnel hasn't been recommended by the community, Sampl contends.

The city's response to Sampl is that the Roswell Road plan is a general planning document that lists several projects that already are in various stages of planning. The tunnel is one such project and is cited in the city's long-term improvement program, according to a statement provided by city spokeswoman Tisa Moore.

The rules for creating the Roswell Road plan state that the city has the final word on the proposal. The rules are included in the contract between Sandy Springs and the Atlanta Regional Commission, which is helping to pay for the study.

The city is to finish the study by late March, according to the ARC.

According to the contract: "The final plan should be made available for public comment (in a meeting, open house or posting) prior to final sponsor approval and submitting deliverables to ARC."

The dispute over the document doesn't stop with the tunnel.

Three other projects listed by the city as having neighborhood support haven't been endorsed by community leaders, Sampl said.

Those projects are:

> A proposed road under, or over, I-285 at Boylston Drive to accommodate the proposed buses that would travel I-285 as part of the state's effort to ease congestion on the Perimeter Highway.

> The proposed widening of a portion of Glenridge Drive.

> Potential development of high-rise buildings on the southern end of the intersection of I-285 and Roswell Road. Sampl said neighborhoods have recommended buildings be no higher than about seven floors.

The proposed tunnel under I-285, which could be an underpass, is intended to ease congestion on Roswell Road at I-285. The tunnel would link Sandy Springs Circle, north of I-285, with Kingsport Drive, which leads to Roswell Road near the Prado shopping complex that's being redeveloped.

The city's response to the issues Sampl raises is that they already appear in other planning documents the city has created or is completing. Sandy Springs has adopted a comprehensive plan and is working on a comprehensive transportation plan.

According to the statement Moore released:

> The Boylston Drive issue addresses the region's plan to provide rapid bus service along I-285. The extension of Boylston Drive is in the city's two plans, although it is not portrayed as a crossing of the interstate.

> The widening of Glenridge Drive is in the city's draft transportation plan. The project could include bicycle lanes, sidewalks and medians that would be built within the existing right of way of the road.

> The concept of high-rise buildings at the southern intersection of I-285 and Roswell Road is in the comprehensive plan the city has adopted.

The Roswell Road study has been under way for about a decade. It's paid for largely by the Atlanta Regional Commission through the Livable Centers Initiative program. The LCI program helps cities develop plans to improve transportation and other quality-of-life issues.

The city now is working with a $100,000 LCI grant it received in February 2007. The first study of Roswell Road that was partly funded by the ARC was completed in 2000, according to the ARC.