Utility relocations are holding up the final sidewalks and paving for Sandy Springs’ $27 million Johnson Ferry Road–Mount Vernon Highway intersection overhaul near City Springs.
Traffic began using the completed two-way configuration in early June, but pedestrian improvements between Roswell Road and Spruill Lane remain unfinished, Rough Draft Atlanta reported.
Georgia Power is installing underground infrastructure, with Comcast and AT&T scheduled to follow, according to the city’s October project update. Remaining work includes curb, gutter and sidewalk construction, along with final paving. Contractor punch-list work is also underway.
Communications Director Carter Long told Rough Draft that city staff is coordinating with the utilities but does not have a firm completion date. Once the companies finish relocating their lines, crews can remove poles and complete the remaining pedestrian facilities and road surface.
The project, identified as TS191, separates Johnson Ferry Road and Mount Vernon Highway east of Roswell Road and restores two-way travel on both roads. Spruill Lane provides a connection between them.
Construction began Feb. 26, 2024, with an initial estimate of approximately two years. The City Council awarded Vertical Earth a $15.9 million construction contract in December 2023. That contract represents part of the broader project cost.
Both TS191 and the nearby Mount Vernon Highway corridor improvements were included in the transportation sales tax program voters approved in November 2016.
The corridor project, TS192, is now substantially complete. It adds a multi-use path and sidewalks between the Sandy Springs Library and the Sandy Springs MARTA station. Landscaping and planting are expected in November, according to the city’s corridor update.
A separate sidewalk gap remains on the north side of Mount Vernon Highway between Crestline Parkway and Peachtree Dunwoody Road, east of Ga. 400. Long told Rough Draft that the section falls outside the current project and has no planned sidewalk extension.
Transportation tax renewal on Nov. 3 ballot
Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to continue Fulton County’s 0.75% transportation sales tax outside Atlanta for another five years. The measure would maintain the existing rate, according to Fulton County.
Sandy Springs’ proposed program contains approximately $129.2 million in projects across three funding tiers. Completing the full list would depend on revenue collections and project costs, according to the city’s TSPLOST plan.
The first tier includes $44.6 million for additional Hammond Drive improvements between Roswell Road and Boylston Drive and between Barfield Road and Glenridge Drive.
A separate Hammond phase would widen the section between Boylston Drive and Glenridge Drive. Rough Draft reported an approved budget of $35 million, with $12.6 million spent, and said staff was reviewing construction bids.
The city’s Hammond Drive project page lists an anticipated construction start in early 2027. Public works staff have previously indicated that work would follow completion of the Johnson Ferry–Mount Vernon intersection and corridor projects, according to Rough Draft.
