Willeo Creek bridge replacement

Cobb approves funding for Willeo Creek Bridge replacement

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Willeo Creek Bridge replacement

After several delays, the Cobb Board of Commissioners this week approved a $2.3 million contract to replace the Willeo Creek Bridge, which connects the city of Roswell with the roundabout at Lower Roswell and Timber Ridge roads in East Cobb.

The low bidder of six was Baldwin Paving Co., and the funding will come from the county’s 2016 SPLOST.

The joint project with the city of Roswell will replace the 60-year-old, 120-foot long bridge at Lower Roswell Road and Willeo Road in Roswell.

The construction also will include guardrail improvements and a pedestrian sidewalk along Lower Roswell.

The process to replace the bridge started in 2015 with intergovernmental agreements between Cobb and Roswell. There were language revisions in 2017 that called for both jurisdictions to share engineering, utility relocation and construction costs.

They are individually responsible for right-of-way acquisitions, with Cobb DOT overseeing all engineering and construction activities.

A change in state law and more language clarifications prompted another change in the IGA in 2018.

Cobb has spent $571,000 for engineering and design work, and in October the city of Roswell spent $70,000 and began expedited right-of-way purchases.

According to a Cobb DOT agenda item at Tuesday’s meeting, the project will take a year to complete.

Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, whose District 2 includes the bridge area, said he was very glad to be able to vote for the project before he leaves office at the end of December.

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Lower Roswell resurfacing expansion, Willeo Creek bridge design approved by Cobb commissioners

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Lower Roswell Road Water Main Project
One-lane traffic on Lower Roswell Road as part of the East Cobb Pipeline Project remains around the bridge over Sope Creek. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

Two important road items of interest to East Cobb motorists got the green light Tuesday from the Cobb Board of Commissioners, one immediate and that’s long-term.

The first concerns the repaving along Lower Roswell Road following the completion of the East Cobb Pipeline Project.

The commission approved a change order request to expand an existing repaving project to include the 2.08-mile stretch from Old Canton Road to Indian Hills Parkway, and it won’t cost taxpayers any additional funding.

Instead, the estimated cost of $593,095 will come out of already-approved money (via the 2016 SPLOST) as part of the Cobb DOT’s contract with Baldwin Paving Co., which has been repaving 25-30 roads around the county.

The money is available due to underruns in the overall Baldwin contract, according to Cobb DOT.

“The road when it’s finished will be a great improvement,” East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said before the 5-0 vote.

In another 5-0 vote, the commission approved an engineering design contract with Gresham Smith and Partners for $483,359 for replacement of the Willeo Road bridge over Willeo Creek. It’s a joint project with the City of Roswell, with each jurisdiction kicking in around $213,900 each. Roswell is spending an additional $55,474 for design work for a multi-use trail boardwalk that will connect to the new bridge.

Multi-use trails along Lower Roswell also reach the Cobb side of the bridge and continue westbound, close to Johnson Ferry Road, where bicycle and pedestrian trails are proposed as part of the Johnson Ferry Urban Design Plan approved in 2011.