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Traffic calming policy sparks debate Residents, Sandy Springs officials study cost sharing in neighborhoods By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenemdia.com
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
Sandy Springs Transportation & Traffic Manager Kristen Wescott details the city’s current neighborhood traffic calming program and the qualifications for treatments and devices to move toward implementation.
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Sandy Springs City Council discussed its neighborhood traffic calming program June 3 considering changes to how work is funded and approved by nearby residents. The program began shortly after incorporation with policies adopted in March 2006. Since then, there have been several updates, the most recent in 2020. During the 2026 budget workshops, city officials opted not to fund the program at $50,000 in order to conduct a review at a later meeting. By the end of the June 3 work session, elected officials seemingly agreed that staff had direction to bring back some of the changes for a later discussion. Sandy Springs is split up by I-285 and Ga. 400, major freeways that carry hundreds of thousands of motorists a day. When drivers begin zip-
ping through neighborhoods to bypass congestion, neighbors petition the city for traffic calming. Out of 80 requests from 2020-25, using the current program policies, the Public Works Department has worked 22 neighborhoods, according to city staff data. Kristen Wescott, traffic and transportation manager for Sandy Springs, said the neighborhood traffic calming program is funded through several budgets for roadway studies, new construction and pavement management. Currently, the process begins when an individual or homeowner group requests traffic calming. That triggers a meeting with staff, a city-funded traffic analysis that defines an area of study. If the study finds the street segment meets the criteria for traffic calming, then engineering staff develops a treatment plan and presents it to residents. The criteria to implement a treatment plan includes an average speed of more than 8 mph over the limit, 100 percent support of adjacent property owners, 75 percent support of the impacted area and half of the construction cost.
See TRAFFIC, Page 12
Fulton County celebrates solar panel installations on 46 more buildings By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — When the sun’s out, solar panels generate cheap, clean energy on the roof of the Dorothy C. Benson Senior Multipurpose Center off Vernon Woods in Sandy Springs. Fulton County is installing solar panels on 53 of its facilities as a part of a push to have the sun power 25 percent of its electricity by 2030. The county says it hopes to have some installations complete by the end of 2025 with other major ones wrap-
ping up early next year. The Board of Commissioners hosted two ceremonies in late May on both sides of Atlanta, billing them as a major expansion of its sustainability program. The other solar panel installation was just inside the city of South Fulton at the Evelyn G. Lowry Library at Cascade. Another existing installation from the original contract is at the Alpharetta Branch of the Fulton County Library System off Park Plaza.
See SOLAR, Page 12
FULTON COUNTY/PROVIDED
From left, Fulton County Energy & Sustainability Manager Jessica Lavender, Cherry Street Energy CEO Michael Chanin, County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts and Commissioner Bob Ellis “flip the switch” on a solar panel installation at the Benson Center in Sandy Springs. The senior multipurpose center is one of 46 county facilities slated for new solar panels.
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