The Sandy Springs City Council has approved purchase contracts totaling $1.7 million to acquire three more properties for the planned widening of Hammond Drive.

The city will pay $535,000 for a home and its 0.73-acre lot at 524 Hammond, and $750,000 for a house and 1.61 acres at 610 Hammond. Both residences are between Lorell Terrace and Glenridge Drive and date to the 1950s, according to a staff report to the council.

The city also will pay $450,000 for a 1950s-era dwelling and its 0.53-acre lot at 6039 Harleston Road, near its intersection with Hammond, staff said. The latest acquisitions will bring to 18 the total number of properties acquired by the city for the Hammond widening.

Hammond is a heavily trafficked, two-lane road connecting Sandy Springs and Dunwoody. It has houses on both sides of the street. The city plans to turn Hammond into a four-lane divided thoroughfare with sidewalks and bicycle lanes.