As the long-delayed Lower Roswell Road transportation project gets closer to getting underway, some East Cobb residents are speaking out against it.
Land acquisitions are continuing for the $9 million Cobb DOT project, which would stretch from Davidson Road and Woodlawn Drive, and include the construction of a median and turn lanes.
The project (fact sheet; location map) also would provide a connection for bicycle lanes in the community and provide sidewalks.
But it’s been more than a decade since first being proposed, and is being funded with money from Cobb government’s 2011 Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
The county held open houses in 2012 and 2013 and accepted virtual comments in early 2022 before commissioners approved the project’s conceptual plan last year.
“You should declare it infeasible,” East Cobb resident Craig Harfoot told members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday during a public comment session. “You haven’t done anything [with the money].”
Some of that funding has been used for property purchases, and commissioners recently approved condemnations of several parcels for rights-of-way and easements.
Engineering work began in 2012 and right-of-way proceedings began in 2019. Cobb DOT is hoping to start construction early next year, and anticipates taking two years to completion.
But some residents said Tuesday that the project should be scuttled because they claim it’s unwanted and a waste of money.
“It’s so unpopular that two former commissioners chose not to do it in 15 years,” said Jan Barton, referencing Joe Lee Thompson and Bob Ott.
Her remarks included other complaints about county spending—including outside consultants and a proposed new position for a diversity and equity officer—as well as recent zoning decisions in East Cobb.
Others who live in the vicinity echoed her comments.
“It hasn’t gotten off the ground because nobody really wants this,” said Larry Savage, a former candidate for Cobb Commission Chairman. “Nobody’s defending this.”
Savage said the Lower Roswell Road project really isn’t about safety and operational improvements but accommodating a bike and trail plan policy.
He said that since commissioners approved the Complete Streets Concept in 2009, it’s been lucrative for project developers to incorporate multi-use trails in what are billed as transportation improvements.
“Bike trails are a recreational amenity, a good amenity,” Savage said. “But this project is not a safety and operational improvements project.”
Some of the delays were prompted by concerns from business owners along Lower Roswell between Johnson Ferry Road and Davidson Road.
That stretch of the project calls for the construction of a median, with some businesses fearing access would be cut off.
Referring to the Tijuana Joe’s restaurant on the southeast corner of Johnson Ferry and Lower Roswell, Savage it could lose its business.
Harfoot referenced the Papa John’s restaurant and the new Bagel 101 Café on the northeast corner, saying “they won’t have any parking.”
Rob Miller, owner of the Bagel 101 Café, told East Cobb News he hasn’t heard of any complaints thus far, but “I hear the project will make parking in our center even less then it already is and it’s tough to get in and out on the weekends.”
Commissioners didn’t respond to the public commenters, who said there was a community meeting recently with commissioners Jerica Richardson and JoAnn Birrell.
Cobb DOT has said that traffic volume and safety precipitated the project and proposed the median because the crash history in that area is above average (42 on Lower Roswell between Johnson Ferry and Davidson from 2016-18).
The agency estimated daily average traffic volumes along Lower Roswell to be nearly 37,000 on either side of Johnson Ferry in 2015, and projects that number to grow to 37,000 in 2025 and more than 45,000 by 2035.
“For Cobb DOT, this is a long one,” Cobb DOT engineer Karyn Matthews told East Cobb News last summer, referncing the delays, “but we wanted to get the right concept for the community.”
Related stories:
- Willeo Creek Bridge reopens after 10-month delay, closures
- East Cobb resurfacing projects OK’d with 2022 SPLOST funds
- Akers Mill Road ramp groundbreaking kicks off $44M project
- Lower Roswell traffic concept plan OK’d by commissioners
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