Paving the way to Dunwoody’s future will mean a lot more asphalt.
The city will nearly triple its spending on road paving this year, part of a five-year commitment to smooth as many main drags and residential roads as possible in the north DeKalb City.
“We know that our roads are in need of as much renovation as we can give them,” said Councilman Robert Wittenstein of the $2 million paving plan for this summer.
A city since 2008, Dunwoody embraced three reasons for existing: police, parks and paving. City leaders launched a municipal police force just four months after incorporation and said early on that planning for parks could take years.
Paving, too, was supposed to wait. No roadwork was planned for at least three years, so officials could take time to examine and rate the condition of each road.
Citizens, though, clamored for better streets. Neighboring Sandy Springs, after all, resurfaced 81 miles of its roadways in its first five years.
Dunwoody residents weren’t willing to wait for the kind of work that can ease commutes on their tangle of streets.
“I have to commute every which way out of here,” said Bill Conroy, a salesman who is in and out of his Dunwoody home several times a day for work. “It’s a benefit I think to have higher-quality streets.”
Dunwoody leaders heard the gripes. They spent $725,000 last year to pave 15 streets, including major roads such as Dunwoody Club Drive and Winters Chapel Road.
This year, the city plans to resurface 16 roadways, including segments of key connectors such as Shallowford, Roberts and North Peachtree roads. That work is expected to begin in August.
Crews are also laying plans for coming years. Chamblee Dunwoody and Mount Vernon are among the heavily trafficked roads on hold until 2013, for instance.
That gives the city time to plan other work there such as intersection improvements and adding bike and turn lanes, said Public Works Director Michael Smith.
“I think people will see a big difference this year and going forward when we pave,” Smith said. “It will be noticeable improvements.”
Wittenstein said the city council is also looking for another $400,000 it can set aside for work this year. The council’s budget committee meets on Thursday to begin that review.
“We want to add to our program if we can,” he said. “We intend to be ambitious in making it happen.”
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