Joe Seconder doesn’t normally pop wheelies, but he’s plenty happy that his uphill battle to get dedicated bike lanes installed on a new bridge over Ga. 400 has paid off.
That is no small feat, considering he was dealing with a state agency on a project that was already well passed the design phase. The Dunwoody cycling enthusiast mounted his late campaign to include the lanes in a $10.5 million Georgia DOT project to replace Northridge Bridge in Sandy Springs.
“I knew back in December 2011 there was a public meeting about the bridge,” Seconder said. “Sometimes, I just don’t feel like going to all these public meetings.”
When Seconder discovered early this year that dedicated bike lanes were not in the design plans, he got busy, phoning friends and transportation contacts.
“This bridge is the single point of access between Perimeter CID, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs to cross the Chattahoochee River into Roswell,” he said.
In mid-February, he won half the battle when the state agreed to include one dedicated bike lane on the eastbound side.
“To me, that was like saying they’ll build a one-way bridge,” Seconder said.
But to his surprise, GDOT invited Seconder, his supporters and Sandy Springs officials to a followup meeting March 29 where it presented a redesign that included two bike lanes without changing the width of the bridge.
“I’ll give him a lot of credit, but I have to give GDOT a lot of credit, too,” said Roswell Mayor Jere Wood, an active cyclist who backed Seconder’s campaign. “They have a whole new attitude down there.”
The agency officially adopted a Complete Streets policy last fall, requiring that it routinely incorporate bicycle, pedestrian and transit concerns into transportation projects. The Northridge Bridge project was finalized well before that policy took effect.
Georgia DOT engineer Darryl D. VanMeter said budget and time constraints would have normally precluded a late change in plans. However, the department had a productive exchange with bike advocates and Sandy Springs officials which led to the accommodation, he said.
Sandy Springs pitched in $500,000 for the project to include decorative street lights and other amenities. The city had initially proposed designated bike lanes.
“I think this is a great example of government listening,” Sandy Springs Assistant City Manager Bryant Poole said. “The project had already been (awarded) and some modifications were able to be made.”
Bob Dallas, who served as highway safety director under Gov. Sonny Perdue, was another Seconder recruit.
“When Joe contacted GDOT and asked them to look closer at it, they were able to work with the contractor … to make the changes within the footprint of what was being built,” Dallas said. “They sharpened their pencils.”
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