Alpharetta will spend $200 milllion for road and infrastructure improvements over the next eight years, said Alpharetta Mayor Jim Gilvin during his State of the City Address this week.
When completed, Gilvin said the projects will provide for shorter commutes for drivers and transform some neighborhoods.
City plans include one to two driving lanes added to sections of Haynes Bridge Road, Old Milton Parkway and McGinnis Ferry Road, doubling or increasing road capacity by 50 percent in those areas.
“We spend a tremendous amount of time and energy on how we can get projects done and how we can get the revenue to get them done,” said Gilvin, during the Feb. 13 address at Hotel Avalon.
Those road widening projects are primarily funded by TSPLOST. Alpharetta also partners with the Georgia Department of Transportation on projects, and other municipalities that share the costs when projects extend through another city.
Rucker Road improvements have been hindered by weather, according to project director Obie Brannon, with Atkins North America, who said he is hopeful they will be completed in May.
The wide-ranging project is budgeted for $18 million and crews are relocating utility lines, and installing sidewalks and pedestrian lights.
In addition, they have demolished and replaced bridges with culvert structures.
“I know that project is taking longer than we would have liked and it’s been an enormous pain for many of the residents along the corridor,” said Gilvin. “It’s one of the largest road projects ever done in the city of Alpharetta, but it’s transformational. Those neighborhoods had no sidewalks. [Residents] couldn’t get to the next neighborhood without getting in their car and driving there. It was impossible [to walk] if you were concerned about your children’s safety.”
In other projects, two-lane bridges over Ga. 400 - at Kimball Bridge and Webb Bridge roads – will be replaced with four-lane bridges, and include improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.
Runners, walkers and cyclists will have an expanded Greenway to explore in 2021. During his address, Gilvin detailed how Big Creek Greenway will connect from Marconi Drive at Windward Parkway to Union Hill Road at McGinnis Ferry in Forsyth County.
Alpharetta officials been inspired by the Atlanta Beltline.
“[The Alpharetta expansion] is a $10 million trail project that will connect from [Roswell’s Greenway] to Forsyth county,” said Gilvin. “We will have 20 miles of trails. The Beltline has been a tremendous bonus. We have a path of green, it’s not all railroad tracks, and it’s got wildlife and creeks, and it’s a huge asset.”
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