Council backs strategy for TSPLOST projects

The Roswell City Council approved a strategy Monday JAN 9 for road improvements funded by a special transportation sales tax, prioritizing projects and hiring a program manager to oversee the work.

“The goals are to plan, construct and deliver the transportation projects for the city within the five-year horizon” of the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax approved by voters in November, according to a staff report.

Top priority will go to Big Creek Parkway Phases 1 and 2, to be started within five years and to take up 73 percent of the total “Tier I” program. “All other project funding will be adjusted to accommodate Big Creek,” staff said.

Other Tier I projects are the Holcomb Bridge Road interchange at Ga. 400, design of the Historic Gateway/Ga. 9 enhancements, the Rucker Road reconstruction, the Oxbo/Ga. 9 intersection, and the Old Holcomb Bridge Road bridge replacement.

The program manager would be responsible for advising staff on budgeting and scheduling, as well as pursuing other funding sources, meeting reporting and audit requirements, and keeping the public informed, staff said.

City OKs $490K Morgan Falls roadwork

The Sandy Springs City Council has approved a $490,343 contract to complete aesthetic improvements to Morgan Falls Road from the Morgan Falls Apartments to Morgan Falls Overlook Park on the Chattahoochee River.

Pending approval by the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Sandy Springs Legal and Finance departments, Ed Castro Landscape Inc. will be responsible for site grading, a retaining wall, monumental signage, landscaping, a storm drainage system with bio-retention rain garden, and erosion control measures.

Castro submitted the lowest of four bids for the work; the highest bid came in at more than $1 million. Federal funds are available through GDOT for up to $500,000, and the city will be obligated for a local match of 20 percent, or $98,070, according to a staff report to the Council.

The city last year made improvements to the street itself from Roswell Road to the 27.8-acre park.