$10M project to retool, rename stretch of Roswell Road in Sandy Springs

North End Boulevard would lead to Roswell’s Historic Gateway project

The road leading from Sandy Springs to Roswell’s Historic Gateway project is getting a facelift and new name.

Sandy Springs officials will dedicate $9.6 million to rebuild the section of Roswell Road between Dunwoody Place and the neighboring city. The half-mile corridor will be renamed Roswell Road North End Boulevard and include a raised median, a 10-foot multiuse path and sidewalk improvements, Sandy Springs officials have said.

In November, Sandy Springs applied for $7.7 million in federal funding through the Atlanta Regional Commission. The remaining $1.9 million would be paid for through transportation special purpose local option sales tax funds, Public Works Director Marty Martin told City Council during a Nov. 16 meeting.

North End Boulevard is intended to help shape the city’s vision for redevelopment of the North End community. The area is a melting pot of cultures, high-end homes and older apartments. The entire northern end of Sandy Springs is located along Roswell Road north of Dalrymple Road to the city of Roswell border and includes four aging shopping centers that Sandy Springs would like developers to remodel into mixed-use developments.

Sandy Springs spokesman Jason Fornicola said Sandy Springs hired Croy Engineering in July to perform a study on that section of Roswell Road and results and recommendations are due in the summer. Fornicola told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the city was not willing to arrange a phone call with Martin or any other official to discuss the road project in more detail.

Northbound traffic is often stopped on Roswell Road during afternoon rush hour from nearly a half mile before Dunwoody Place to the city of Roswell. The two cities are divided by the Chattahoochee River. From Sandy Springs, the bridge leading to Roswell’s planned $50 million Historic Gateway project includes widening Atlanta Street from three to four lanes, a second bridge over the river, and other improvements.

The second bridge project will be funded by Roswell, Sandy Springs and the Georgia Department of Transportation, according to Roswell, and include bicycle and pedestrian paths.

Sandy Springs resident Bill Odrey told the AJC Monday he worries that a portion of his 1.7-acre property at Roberts Drive and Roswell Road at the southern end of the existing bridge will be taken or affected by the new bridge and North End Boulevard projects.

Odrey has made public comments at city meetings in both cities on the planned bridge. He told the AJC that he has asked the cities via email to inform him by Jan. 1 if his property will be affected.

“We keep asking what are they going to do with my property,” Odrey said.