Dunwoody Looks at Funding as it Rolls Out Transportation Plan

Dunwoody officials envision a future where traffic flows more smoothly, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks connect the city and a wealth of bicycle lanes encourages people to leave their car in the garage.

That vision, recently codified after months of community meetings, is part of the city’s multi-million dollar transportation plan. The overall strategy of the plan is aimed at retaining Dunwoody’s small-town feel while clearing up frequent traffic jams, say city officials.

“I think the focus is not widening roads but improving the way that people can move through intersections. We do recognize that if you build it they will come,” said Robert Wittenstein, city council member. “That was unanimous – I think (council members) were all in agreement that widening roads was not something we wanted.”

Like a lot of government-created plans, this one could easily be shelved and gather dust.

But in Dunwoody, which recently rolled out a series of plans for improving park space and revamping areas of the city in need of redevelopment, there are signs that the transportation plan could have some steam behind it.

Take the Council’s approach to sidewalks, for instance. A long-held complaint of residents is that Dunwoody has a robust, yet disjointed system of pedestrian walkways.

This year, Dunwoody will spend $350,000 on sidewalks, tripling the amount it spent last year.

Sidewalk segments at the south end of Happy Hollow Road and the west side of Valley View Road should be completed before the end of the year, say city officials. More are in the works – this year and into the next several years.

“We will have sidewalks completed,” Wittenstein said. “That’s the cost of doing business. We’re going to have to apply funds to things that are most important.”

Sidewalks are something the city can tend to itself with its annual budget.

The city’s newly minted transportation plan, meanwhile, calls for more than $90 million in transportation projects to be built during the next 20 years. The top projects are scheduled for the next 10 years. But that timeline depends on attracting significant funding, say city officials.

“A lot of it depends on outside funding,” said Michael Smith, public works director. “If we don't get it, things are going to get pushed back.”

The city has a list of nearly 20 projects it considers top-tier – everything from better traffic signaling, to intersection improvements, to dedicated bicycle lanes on major roads.

For instance:

•    The top city priority is an automated traffic management system that would allow for smoother traffic flow and better signal timing at key spots in the city, such as Dunwoody Village and the Perimeter Center business district.
 
•    Another project is to create shared road space for bicyclists on a slew of key roadways around the city, such as North Peachtree Road, Perimeter Center East, Meadow Lane, Tilly Mill Road and others.

•    Mt. Vernon and Vermack roads could be expanded to add a left turn lane. The $500,000 project could help relieve traffic at one of the most congested intersections in the city. It’s one on a long list of key intersection improvements.


John Lauth, the CEO and founder of Courier Connection, Inc. a business headquartered near Ashford Dunwoody Road and I-285, coordinates hundreds of daily trips through Atlanta’s traffic – delivering everything from medical equipment to tires and – recently - a live organ to an Emory hospital.

He said part of his business is finding ways around traffic in places like Dunwoody.

How can it improve?

“I would say let the (traffic) lights be timed be timed properly. Then have the police continue to be out there directing traffic,” Lauth said. “I’m against widening a lot of roads, they just feed into bottlenecks.”

In the end, the city’s transportation future will come down to how much money the city can attract. A referendum for a region-wide transportation sales tax is scheduled for 2012.

If approved, the tax could generate $700 million annually for the region over 10 years, guarantee the build-out of several top city projects and hand Dunwoody $800,000 to $900,000 per year for discretionary projects. Currently the city spends about $500,000 per year on traffic improvements.

Meanwhile, city leaders are scheduled Monday to start discussing the possibility of issuing a local bond package and then taxing residents to help fund the plan. No amount has yet been discussed, Wittenstein said.

Without guaranteed funds, city leaders say they see the transportation plan moving forward slowly.

With status-quo funding, “it will take many years to have enough money to start moving down the transportation checklist,” wrote John Heneghan, city council member, in an e-mail.