Transport head quits at key time

Jim Wilgus cites unspecified ‘stress issue’ for resignation.

Jim Wilgus’ role was to oversee implementing traffic plan around SunTrust Park; he also dealt with storm cleanup.

Cobb County’s head of transportation has resigned at a time when metro Atlanta is looking to Cobb regarding its stance on transit.

Jim Wilgus resigned last week, Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt said. Wilgus cited an unspecified “stress issue” in his resignation letter.

He took the transportation role in 2016 after serving seven months as interim director following Faye DiMassimo’s departure for the city of Atlanta. Before that he was a city engineer for the city of Marietta.

County manager Rob Hosack, who has been in his role almost a year, said the search has begun for a new transportation director to oversee the state’s third-most populated county, with three-quarters of a million residents.

When Wilgus took the baton from DiMassimo, it was his job to oversee the implementation of the traffic plan around the Braves’ SunTrust Park, which was paved with tough conversations at all levels of government and business.

When Wilgus — whose yearly salary was $144,707 — presented the Cobb plan to push game day baseball traffic off highways and onto local streets, Sandy Springs mayor Rusty Paul called it “our nightmare.”

Wilgus also dealt with Mother Nature — from snowstorms to tropical storms, and the damage and cleanup from both.

Until a replacement is found, deputy transportation director Erica Parish will fill the role in the interim.

Expect more traffic headaches in Cobb

If you drive in Cobb County, there’s a good chance an upcoming $34.8 million project resurfacing 11 miles of I-75 will affect your life.

Crews will be doing work from the Chattahoochee River to just north of Allgood Road in Cobb; from I-285 eastbound over I-75 to just west of the Chattahoochee River Bridge; and on most every ramp and collector-distributor lane therein. Work began Monday. So it’s a massive project. When asked for specifics on closures, Natalie Dale, spokeswoman for the state transportation department, said the project is so large that “we can really only provide bite-sized pieces, as the work remains flexible based on the contractor’s needs.”

She said work will be mostly limited to overnight hours, and the whole project is expected to by done by the end of summer.

There will be programmable message boards in place to guide folks.

At 9 p.m. Monday, crews shut down the Cumberland Boulevard ramp to I-75 northbound. Motorists heading north in I-75 will be rerouted to Windy Hill Road, then I-75 southbound and finally onto Cumberland Boulevard.

There was no end date for that closure and others, which is set to become the new norm as crews trudge through the project. So it might be a good idea to check with ajc.com and Georgia 511 before heading out on a drive.