Chick-fil-A no go at Avalon
Planning Commission rejects drive-thru franchise ►►PAGE 6
One last JC Summer Concert
Region roundup
Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ set to play Newtown Park Amphitheater ►►PAGE 14
How is your team doing thru week 3? ►►PAGE 30
September 17, 2015 | johnscreekherald.com | 75,000 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 19, No. 37
McGinnis exit slated for Ga. 400 Priority project to create regional corridor
ing McGinnis Ferry Road and making operational improvements at intersections along McGinnis Ferry. The proposed interchange is a Georgia Department of Transportation partnership project included in the Forsyth County transportation bond approved by county voters in 2014. It is receiving local funding through the bond as well as federal funding. Total cost is projected at $47 million with a completion date of 2020. Three options were presented at the open house. One option leaves the interchange basically where it’s at, said Tim Allen, assistant director of the engineering department for the county. A second option moves
By KATHLEEN STURGEON kathleen@appenmediagroup.com
HATCHER HURD/STAFF
VIPs in attendance, from left, are City Councilman Steve Broadbent, a “ground zero” retired New York City Fire Department veteran, Johns Creek Fire Chief Jeff Hogan, Fulton Commissioner Liz Hausmann and state Rep. Brad Raffensperger.
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Patriot Day in Johns Creek recalls sacrifices of 9/11
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Public comments were gathered and maps were explained Sept. 10 as Forsyth County held a public information open house regarding a new interchange on Ga. 400 between the Windward Parkway and McFarland Parkway ramps. The project includes construction of an interchange on Ga. 400 at McGinnis Ferry Road, widening Ga. 400 south from McGinnis Ferry to McFarland Parkway, widen-
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Ceremony at amphitheater marks solemn occasion
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mored vest. “That did not deter other officers from racing to my aid,” Freeman said. “That first-responder training kicked in.” It is a call to duty, a reflex that first responders must have, he said. Freeman found he had that reflex, though it took him a while to come to that place in the road of life. Prior to becoming a police officer, he was a church worker and a wran-
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JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Johns Creek police and fire personnel were on hand to mark the city’s Patriot Day ceremonies and remember the sacrifices made Sept. 11, 2001, especially those made by public safety personnel who valiantly tried to save as many victims as they could before they, too, perished that day. Rotary Club of Johns Creek member and retired Lt. Gen. Glenn Spears was mas-
ter of ceremonies Sept. 11 at the annual event held at the Newtown Park Amphitheater. Patriot Day in Johns Creek salutes first responders wherever they may be who answer the call in an emergency, Spears said. Guest speaker at the event was Alpharetta police officer David Freeman, who recounted how, in 2013, a “routine” traffic stop turned terrifying when a motorist began firing at him, striking him seven times. An eighth round was stopped by Freeman’s ar-
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By HATCHER HURD hatcher@appenmediagroup.com
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The area highlighted in red shows the project limits of the SR 400, McGinnis Ferry Road interchange.