Riverside Drive Roundabout Project Will Start This Month

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Sandy Springs, GA -- A much anticipated transportation improvement project that will bring some congestion relief to Riverside Drive is slated to start this month.

The project to install two roundabouts at the Riverside Drive exit and entrance ramps to Interstate 285 will soon become a reality, Georgia DOT project manager Marlo Clowers told Patch.

Clowers said the state had a bit of delay “because we had property challenges,” but 99 percent of those issues have been resolved. Most of the paperwork has been completed, and the affected property owners have been informed that work could start any moment, she added.

The $5.6 million design-build project will remove the current traffic signals at the top of both ramps and replace those devices with roundabouts.

Addressing safety improvements at the I-285/Riverside Drive interchange grew into a serious conversation due to its higher than statewide average crash rate. Furthermore, Clowers said the type of crashes that occurred at both entrance and exit ramps were “more severe.”

Most of the right-of-way has been acquired and once dirt is turned, Clowers said the project could wrap up by November.

Clowers stated contractors may have to shut off access to the Riverside Drive bridge over I-285 for a few weekends during the project’s duration, but that has yet to be determined. She noted crews could find ways to do the work without cutting off access to the bridge to through traffic.

GDOT initially faced opposition from area residents who didn’t understand the purpose of the project, Clowers continued. The agency had to reassure residents along Riverside Drive that the roundabouts will serve as a “traffic calming” measure -- not a tool to make it easier for cut-through traffic to breeze through the thoroughfare.

She also said the project will give Riverside Drive a “gateway feel” to this residential area of Sandy Springs.

“I think they are on board with the project now,” she said, referring to the neighborhoods.

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Image via Patch