Headway Made On Parks, Trails, And Main Street Projects

By City of Dunwoody

Dunwoody, GA February 7, 2014 – The City of Dunwoody is currently engaged in several beneficial and exciting infrastructure projects in different phases of active development and construction. Click here for PDF version of update.

Georgetown Park

Progress continues on the children’s playground and main pavilion areas at the new Georgetown Park and the city anticipates substantial completion of the central park square, pavilion area, children’s playground, and the adjacent bathroom facilities by the end of February.

Most recently, crews have been active with park landscaping and beautification efforts by planting trees, flowering shrubs, and water-saving grasses as well as installing amenities including new decorative street lights, benches, and garbage receptacles.

The bocce ball courts off the Georgetown Park pavilion area are close to completion and the final stages of the decorative brick work on the fountain and the sidewalk and road are nearing conclusion. The adjoining concrete path adjacent to the central park square, eventually connecting with the Dunwoody Trailway multi-use trail to create a 3.3 mile long trailway, also is close to being completed.

Protective fencing soon will be removed from the periphery of the new children’s playground area that contains two separate play structures intended for children between three and 12 years of age. Both sections of the new park will be available for community-wide use.

Lastly, two of the planned 68 newly constructed single-family homes are under construction. Part of Dunwoody Green, a new development from John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, the homes overlook the new Georgetown Park area and are the first homes established in the new neighborhood.

New 5-Acre Park

Dunwoody City Council agreed to the most recently updated 5-acre park concept design and gave direction to staff to begin final design and construction documents.

This most recently updated concept plan covers some high priority unmet needs as communicated to the City through the parks master plan in a manner most appropriate for the size, location and overall nature of the property. Based on input from public meetings as well as feedback received from City Council some of the features and key elements to the concept plan have been improved. The latest concept plan design for the park can be viewed in detail on the city website. Updates and features of the park concept plan include:

• Maximizing the size of the sports and passive field

• Addition of a pickle ball court overlay to the basketball courts

• Key locations for interactive trail features

• Multi-use trail configuration which maximizes the use of the park for other uses

• Combined pavilion/restroom facility, centralized to all elements of the park

• Optimizing the parking location to avoid conflicts with park and trail users

• Positioning 162 parking spaces on the site plan

• Overflow parking on the south side of Pernoshal Court

• Passive recreation and picnic areas

• A heavy vegetative buffer between the sports field and the residential properties

The new 5-acre park is part of the city’s larger redevelopment initiative, Project Renaissance, and will be the latest addition to the city’s seven parks and 150+ acres of green space. After development of the final design and construction documents, the city will receive bids for construction and decide upon a firm to build the park sometime this fall.

The Project Renaissance redevelopment initiative stemmed from the community-developed Georgetown/North Shallowford Master Plan created shortly after the city’s incorporation. Project Renaissance has since activated 35 total acres of land and upon completion will include new city parks, a multi-use trail, an owner occupied low-density residential development, a small neighborhood commercial development and potential civic facilities.

Brook Run Trail

Construction of Phase II of the multi-use trail at Brook Run Park has begun. Construction crews and city staff walked the trail’s planned centerline with the city arborist to assess and make minor modifications to the trail placement in an effort to reduce the overall number of impacted trees along the 1.3 mile addition to the multi-use trail at Brook Run Park. The first steps in the construction process consisted of the installation of construction and erosion control fencing around the playground area.

To help diminish overall trail construction impacts within the Brook Run Park playground area, one of the most heavily trafficked areas of the 102-acre park, city staff coordinated construction activities to occur in the late winter when playground use is less prevalent. Over the next several weeks crews will conduct general tree clearing on the trail alignment and the City anticipates crews will begin trail grading and leveling work early next week. Following the trail grading and leveling, crews will begin final preparations for installation of the multi-use concrete trail.

City inspectors are monitoring construction activity. An erosion and sediment control plan was established for the project, which strictly adheres to all Georgia Environmental Protection Division requirements regarding erosion and sediment control. The EPD’s approval of the erosion and sediment control plan enabled the city to issue a land disturbance permit, which allows crews to proceed with construction of the trail.

The latest phase of the 12-foot wide multi-use trail will help open access to areas of the park which are not frequently used by park visitors. The new trail section also will connect with the existing 0.7 mile trail to create a two mile, 12-foot wide concrete multi-use trail loop within Brook Run Park.

The city anticipates the new segment will be completed by summer of 2014 and, similar to the first section of trail, decorative benches and waste/recycling receptacles will be installed along the trail route for beautification and convenience. As future phases are completed in the coming years, the Dunwoody Trailway multi-use trail will run from Brook Run Park to Chamblee Dunwoody Road and will cover 3.3 total miles.

Dunwoody Village Main Street Project

Construction crews continue to make progress on the Dunwoody Village Main Street project and will soon begin concentrating work on the south side of the parkway. Crews have removed the medians, including all of the vegetation and trees, from the parkway median and have placed tree-save protective fencing and erosion control measures along the construction area boundaries adjacent to the parkway.

Construction activities will soon shift traffic to the north side of the parkway while crews address stormwater drains and sub-grade utility work along the south side of the thoroughfare. Once the storm drain and utility work is complete, curbing and driveway entrances will be built followed by paving work on the south side of the parkway. After completion of the south side construction work, crews will begin work on the north side of the parkway, shifting traffic to the south side.

The shops, restaurants, and businesses located in the Village Parkway area will remain accessible throughout construction.

The city has worked closely with the businesses in Dunwoody Village and continues to conduct proactive outreach and communication to ensure safe and efficient progress in one of the city’s most important commercial districts. Main Street project information materials, including a store front project poster and point of sale flyers to display adjacent to registers, are available free of charge for Village businesses by contacting Bob Mullen at 678-382-6881 or bob.mullen@dunwoodyga.gov.

For additional information regarding the Main Street project please contact Michael Smith, Public Works Director, at 678-382-6850 or email michael.smith@dunwoodyga.gov.

Sidewalk Projects & Intersection Improvements

Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Spalding Drive Intersection Improvement & Public Meeting:

The intersection at Spalding Drive Chamblee-Dunwoody/Spender Trace/Spalding Club Drive has been identified in the City of Dunwoody’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan as a high priority project to improve safety. The current intersection provides a junction of five roadway legs and lacks adequate turn lanes, visibility, sight distance, and way finding. Additionally, the intersection cannot accommodate safe use by non-motorized users. The primary goal of the project is to correct deficiencies and improve the safety and operations of the intersection.

The City of Dunwoody will be hosting a public meeting for the proposed intersection project on Tuesday, February 25, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.at New Hope Church, located at 5477 Roberts Drive, Dunwoody, GA 30338. A brief presentation highlighting the project background, viable intersection concepts, and other project components will be delivered at the meeting. Immediately following this presentation, various concept displays will be available for viewing and discussion. During this time, city staff will be available to answer questions and collect public input feedback.

While many design aspects of this project have already been explored, the project is in early design stages when modifications can easily be applied. The dialogue between the city and the public is critical to determine the best solution for this project. For more information, please visit the City’s website at www.dunwoodyga.gov or contact the City of Dunwoody at 678-382-6700.

Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Peeler and Shallowford Road:

In 2011, the City of Dunwoody adopted a Georgetown/North Shallowford Area Master Plan to guide future development and transportation improvements in the study area. The plan recommended bicycle, pedestrian and streetscape improvements along the Chamblee Dunwoody corridor between Cotillion Drive and Independence Square.

Drawing on the direction of the Master Plan, the city issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for professional engineering and related services for Chamblee-Dunwoody Road multi-modal improvements from Cotillion Drive to Peeler Road and improvements to the intersection of Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, North Shallowford Road, and Peeler Road. The purpose of the project is to implement improvements that are consistent with the community consensus gained through the planning process. Specifically, the project will help enhance the area’s appearance as a gateway to the City and encourage greater walkability and heighten the opportunity to travel by alternate means

The corridor currently lacks sidewalks on the east side of Chamblee Dunwoody Road and is challenging for pedestrians with narrow sidewalks and landscape buffers on the west side and very little streetscape. Bicycle facilities are also lacking.

The intersection where Chamblee Dunwoody Road intersects with Peeler Road and North Shallowford Road has been identified as a high priority project in the City’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan. The

City seeks to improve operations and safety for vehicles and pedestrians at this intersection and potentially explore aesthetic treatments for signal and utility relocation in the area. Traffic analysis indicated that the intersection currently operates at a Level of Service F in the AM and PM peak periods.

The City anticipates that a design firm will be recommended to the City Council in April. After initial data gathering the consultant will begin developing concepts and gathering public input later this year.

Sidewalk Projects: Construction activities on the Kingsley Safe Routes to School Improvement Project have made progress and much of the new curbing along Dartford Drive from Tilly Mill Road to Brendon Drive is complete. Crews will soon begin work on the sidewalks on this route. The project will create sidewalks along Brendon Drive from Davantry Drive to N. Peachtree Road and raised crosswalks will be installed across:

• N. Peachtree Road at Davantry Drive

• N. Peachtree Road at Brendon Drive

• Brendon Drive at Brendon Court

• Dartford Drive at Brendon Drive

This project will improve the safety for children walking to Kingsley Charter Elementary School. The $330,000 in improvements will be 100 percent federally funded through the Safe Routes to School program. The design and construction is being managed by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Work is also nearing completion on the final segment of sidewalk on Valley View Drive as part of the City’s sidewalk improvement plan, created to provide an objective process to prioritize the City’s sidewalk projects. The city will soon receive bids from contractors to complete the sidewalks planned for Roberts Drive, Hensley Drive, Mount Vernon Way, Peachford Road, and Dunwoody Park.

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