The six cities of north Fulton County are close to adopting a $1 billion comprehensive transportation plan intended to help solve traffic snarls that bleed across their borders.
Their final project list, expected in the next month, has been designed with the help of an independent consultant to bring more federal and state money to major efforts each city agreed to tackle.
“The very fact that we engaged in a regional transportation effort shows we recognize that we are all interconnected and know how to solve these problems,” Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos said.
The comprehensive plan provides north Fulton cities a dress rehearsal for a bid to form their own Milton County, an effort that fell short in the Legislature this year.
"It's a preview of how Milton County could work," Roswell Mayor Jere Wood said. "We have a common interest and consensus that Fulton County as a whole is lacking."
One priority involves widening Windward Parkway in Alpharetta from Deerfield Parkway to Union Hill Road, a stretch of more than 2 miles that includes the Ga. 400 interchange.
"That would be awesome," said Zach Stinebaugh of Milton, who travels the route three or four times a week.
But some, like Rick Keller of Marietta, are skeptical.
Keller, who works at Hewlett Packard at Ga. 400 and Windward Parkway, said history has shown that traffic increases with capacity.
"If you widen it, traffic will fill it, he said. "The wider Atlanta makes its roads, the more they fill up."
The cities approached the Atlanta Regional Commission last year seeking help in solving traffic woes. Cooperating means they are more likely to attract funding, since the plan focuses on regional problems that affect more than 300,000 people.
North Fulton's effort is part of a metro-wide regional transportation plan that is being compiled by the ARC, officially recognized as the planning agency for the region. After the regional plan is compiled and adopted, the ARC will submit it to the federal government for final approval.
The plan is based on what can be reasonably expected in the way of funding over the next 25 years. Funding comes from federal, state and local sources.
Still, it will be a challenge to secure the entire $1 billion for all of the projects.
There are about 38 "Tier 1″ projects listed in the north Fulton proposal. Those projects affect major arteries and would be eligible for federal dollars. The "Tier 2″ projects, about a dozen listed so far, would be dependent on funding through a special regional transportation sales tax.
The north Fulton mayors have already raised an issue with the sales tax, hinting they would oppose it if neighboring counties did not participate in paying for a regional transit system, such as MARTA.
A private company, Kimley-Horn and Associates, was hired to coordinate the process in north Fulton. Federal funds cover 80 percent of the $1.25 million price tag for the study. Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek, Milton and Alpharetta split the rest of the cost; Mountain Park, with only 500 people, didn't have to pay.
The ARC recently completed plans for Forsyth and Fayette counties, said Regan Hammond, a lead planner with the agency.
Having the six cities agree on a project list should simplify the decision-making process for the ARC when federal money is distributed. It may mean more money flows to North Fulton.
"They will have a more simplified project list to sell," Hammond said. "In the past there's been hundreds of projects on the table."
The work collects information such as crash rates and traffic counts to elevate some projects to qualify for federal dollars. Those that don’t make the cut often end up vying for additional state money, all in a bid to make roads safer, commutes shorter and, sometimes, to provide alternatives such a bike and walking paths.
The north Fulton plan has all those elements. What it doesn’t have is any data from anywhere else in the county. ARC is slated to do a separate plan for south Fulton next year.
“Fulton County lost planning jurisdiction in the north, so the timing was right for the cities to come together if they wanted their own plan,” Hammond said, referring to the fact there are no unincorporated areas in north Fulton. “Roads don’t know boundaries.”
Despite the political implications of the northside communities' splintering from the south, there has been little fallout from the Fulton County Commission.
That may be in part because transportation transcends politics, according to Fulton County Chairman John Eaves.
With Atlanta in the middle, traffic patterns to the north and south have different configurations, he said.
“It’s a good way to handle the unique needs and demands of transportation in the north, where there is more density, compared to the south, where part is unincorporated,” Eaves said. “I’m comfortable with it, because south Fulton is going to get the same type of assistance.”
North Fulton suffers from traditional rush-hour traffic moving north and south, west to Cobb and east to Gwinnett and DeKalb counties.
A vocal few have pushed for more alternatives to roadwork, reflected in the draft plan that estimates spending more than $50 million for bike and walking trails.
"I have never seen the political will to do anything to support cycling," said Joe Seconder, a board member of the Georgia Bike Alliance who moved from Sandy Springs to Dunwoody in part because of his previous city's opposition to bike trails. "I'll believe it when I see it."
But no matter what's on the list, and in what order, there won’t be much to see for years. If the cities approve the plan as expected by next month, it will be two years before most of the projects could begin. Major projects, such as widening Hammond Drive in Sandy Springs and McGinnis Ferry Road in Johns Creek, would take several more years.
Still, the mayors pledged to work together. Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker said big projects deserve big consensus.
"I don't believe state or federal funds should be spent on myopic projects," he said. "I believe we should go for the biggest bang for the buck in terms of whatever criteria you want to set: congestion relief, transit, whatever."
Regional coordination also delivers regional results, Bodker said.
"What's the point of widening [a road] in one jurisdiction to have it choke down in another jurisdiction?" he said.
Bodker said there has been a project on the books for years to widen Old Alabama Road in Johns Creek, but neither Alpharetta nor Roswell to the west has shown any interest in altering the road in their jurisdiction. A project to widen the road to four lanes from Holcomb Bridge Road to Jones Bridge Road is in the proposed regional plan, but it is far down the list with the projects that have no prospect of immediate funding.
Roswell's Mayor Wood said the consulting firm compiled the project list without being subjected to real-world political pressures. For instance, Wood said the consultants' idea of building two new bridges over the Chattahoochee River is "dead on arrival."
"That's not going to fly politically, but it's innovative," he said.
Other innovations have been welcomed by officials, at least in Roswell. The consultants went against popular sentiment and recommended not four-laning the often-jammed Rucker and Houze roads. Instead, they suggested rebuilding the two-lane roads with turn lanes to ease the traffic load.
Some top priority projects under consideration:
-- Connect Big Creek Greenway at Marconi Drive to Forsyth County's trail system
-- Connect Big Creek Greenway to Roswell's Chattahoochee River Walk along Riverside Road
-- Construct a multi-use trail within power line easement from Lower Roswell Road in Cobb County, crossing the river with a new bridge, through Morgan Falls Park and ultimately linking to other on-road bike facilities, including Dunwoody
-- Enhance bike and pedestrian facilities along Riverside Road and Holcomb Bridge Road, creating a complete east-west bike/pedestrian route through north Fulton
-- Widen Abbotts Bridge Road to four lanes from Parsons Road to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard
-- Widen Ga. 9 to four lanes from Hamby Road in Forsyth County to Academy Street
-- Widen Arnold Mill Road from Cherokee County to Rucker Road. Enhance Rucker Road to a divided two-lane with a median and turn lanes from Hardscrabble Road to Wills Road
-- Remove reversible lanes from Marietta Highway to Riverside Road and widen to four lanes.
-- Widen Windward Parkway to six lanes from Deerfield Parkway to Union Hill Road
-- Enhance Hardscrabble Road to a divided two-lane with a median and turn lanes from Ga. 92 to Crabapple Road
-- Widen McGinnis Ferry Road to four lanes from Union Hill Road to Sargent Road
-- Widen Hammond Drive to four lanes from Roswell Road to Glenridge Drive and widen to six lanes from Ga. 400 to the DeKalb County line
-- Enhance Houze Road to a divided two-lane with turn lanes from Rucker Road to Mansell Road
-- Widen Kimball Bridge Road to four lanes from Old Milton Parkway to Jones Bridge Road
-- Widen Jones Bridge Road to four lanes from Taylor Road to Douglas Road
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