Goody Clancy and the city conducted a transportation community meeting regarding Sandy Springs’ city center downtown development Tuesday at City Hall. It was the last workshop on the city center vision before it goes to the city council Tuesday.
Goody Clancy spokesman Ben Carlson presented a plan for transportation, parking, greenspace and more, based upon research from North Carolina-based design firm Kimley-Horn.
“Kimley-Horn’s approach is about creating more choices,” said Carlson. “Roswell Road doesn’t have a lot more capacity for vehicles. We want to create a way for people to take more trips on foot or by bike and transit use.”
The mixed-use development vision Goody Clancy has for the city center would call for about 1,950 new housing units over the next 10 to 15 years, about 150,000 square feet of pedestrian-oriented retail space, about 113,500 square feet of small-format office space and about 90 hotel rooms, according to research performed by Kimley-Horn.
In terms of how this will affect traffic, Carlson said there will be an impact, but the firm hopes to deflect some of this with alternate routes and the encouragement of foot and bicycle traffic.
“Overall, the main impacts are going to be on the east-west corners, which are Mount Vernon (Highway) and Hammond (Drive),” said Carlson.
Based on a study conducted by Kimley-Horn, Roswell Road will still remain congested with traffic, Mount Vernon will go from about 60 percent traffic volume capacity to 75 percent, with Hammond’s traffic congestion not increasing or decreasing. Sandy Springs Circle, however, will still be capable of handling more traffic after the city center is developed, according to Carlson.
He said a mixed-use development, which also would have residential properties, will not create as much traffic at peak times as a traditional retail development would.
One proposal offered by Kimley-Horn to deflect some of the traffic on Mount Vernon is to create two roundabouts, or a “roundabout bowtie” at Johnson Ferry Road and Mount Vernon.
“This plan really gets into more of talking about a grid effort,” said Kimley-Horn representative Jeff Smith. “To create a place where residents can move around the city easier without having to move with regional traffic.”
This grid network would create 400 foot-long city blocks with a “park once” plan that would encourage street parking. Greenspace would separate pedestrian pathways from the road. Carlson also threw out the possibility of a shuttle loop that will connect to the MARTA line. The shuttle would come through the city center, down Hammond back to Roswell Road.
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Don't they know our cars are present day Jim Crow and we all have the Dukes of Hazzard rebel flag in our hearts if not on our hoods.
If we were to walk to bicycle, we might meet a DEMOCRAT!
This firm must be dismissed as soon as possible. Isn't there some traffic consutlant who will advise us "more lanes, more roads, more cars, once more?"
The way of the last century.. It's the ONLY way!