Lower Roswell traffic improvements Archives

Vintage Lower Roswell Road home torn down at Woodlawn Drive

May 16, 2019 1:23 PMMay 14, 2019 10:24 AM by Wendy Parker

1930s Lower Roswell Road home — *A photo of the former Wilce Frasier home taken over the winter, as the land was put up for sale. (ECN file)*

One of the older buildings in East Cobb stands no more. A home more than 100 years old and located at 4658 Lower Roswell Road, at Woodlawn Drive, has been demolished by Cobb County government, which has had plans for several years to rework the intersection.

The demolition of the home and two smaller structures behind it took place following an expedited decision granted by Cobb commissioners on April 30 to County Manager Rob Hosack, at a cost of $18,625.

A low bid for the demolition work was awarded to Tucker Grading & Hauling, with the funds coming from the 2011 Cobb SPLOST account, according to a memo to Hosack from Cobb DOT Director Erica Parish and dated Tuesday.

The demolition was necessary, according to the memo, because the properties were in poor condition and trespassing had been taking place there.

On Tuesday, commissioners “ratified” the decision to tear down the buildings by a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb was absent. The memo was included as an agenda item.

The home had been vacant since Jan. 2018, when the homeowner, Wilce Frasier Jr., died at the age of 93. According to deed records with the Cobb County Superior Court Clerk’s office, Frasier had lived in the home since the early 1960s.

A family member, Lisa Frasier McCalvin, said the home dates from the late 1800s: “Wilce grew up in this house with his brothers and sisters . . . . it never left our family . . . . the memories I have of playing in that house are some of my fondest from my childhood.”

Wilce Frasier’s obituary noted that he was a Navy veteran during World War II and worked at Lockheed-Georgia for 30 years, and that he is buried at the Mt. Bethel church cemetery just around the corner on Johnson Ferry Road.

(After we posted this story, a reader passed along a link to a slideshow remembrance of Frasier.)

His heirs had been in negotiations with Cobb DOT regarding right-of-way for the intersection improvements. The 0.9 acres owned by Frasier, put up for sale over the winter, has been sold. It had been marketed for possible commercial use.

The intersection project is part of Lower Roswell Road improvements stretching from Woodlawn, across Johnson Ferry Road and to Davidson Road and is part of the 2011 SPLOST.

A contract for the project was approved in 2012 but the county still needs to make more right-of-way acquisitions.

The improvements at Lower Roswell and Woodlawn will include installing a median and additional turn lanes at a clogged intersection.

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Cobb spending an additional $160K for engineering design for Lower Roswell traffic improvements

May 14, 2018 1:37 PMMay 9, 2018 1:05 PM by Wendy Parker

Long-delayed plans for Lower Roswell traffic improvements in the Johnson Ferry Road area are getting some action.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners last week approved a contract for $160,145 for additional engineering design work.

It’s the second time supplemental funding for design work has been approved for that project, bringing the total spending for pre-construction engineering to $650,000 in Cobb’s consulting contract with Smith Gresham and Partners.

The original contact was for $445,000. Cobb DOT said the extra funding was needed to “revise the original concept preliminary design and right-of-way plans.”

The project, which is the final phase of improvements in the Lower Roswell corridor, call for significant changes between Woodlawn Drive and Davidson Road, although no final plans have been determined.

They include a possible raised median along part of the route, longer turn lanes and improved traffic and pedestrian signals.

It was initially approved in the 2011 SPLOST (initial project summary here and project concept here) and Cobb DOT officials held public open houses in 2012 to tout the changes.

But it has run into snags from the beginning.

The major concerns were from business owners on the north side of Lower Roswell, east from Johnson Ferry to Davidson. A raised median is proposed, but has not been formally approved, to cut down on left-turn traffic coming out of Parkaire Landing Shopping Center.

District 2 Cobb commissioner Bob Ott told East Cobb News he wanted changes that would have “the least amount of impact on those businesses.”

He said early designs called for a service road from the McDonald’s on Lower Roswell to Davidson to accommodate access to those businesses, but that road is not going to be built.

Ott said the additional design work was sought since the original proposal was made so long ago. Because the project is SPLOST-approved by voters, it must be completed. There isn’t a timetable for the design revisions.

Right-of-way purchases also remain outstanding. The elderly occupant of an old white house facing Lower Roswell at Woodlawn has passed away in recent months, and property acquisition is still in progress.

The Lower Roswell project includes additional sidewalks as well as through and turn lanes in and around the intersection at Woodlawn.

The total cost of the project, when finished, is expected to come to $6.2 million, with nearly half of that right-of-way purchases.

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