Empty Nest
Sponsored section ►►PAGE 28
Be smart behind the wheel Free event targets teen drivers ►►PAGE 6
School enrollment numbers revealed System planners call it correctly ►►PAGE 12
Getting WILD
Autrey Mill hosts fundraiser ►►PAGE 20
September 24, 2015 | johnscreekherald.com | 75,000 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 19, No. 38
Johns Creek putting $11.6M on city streets Seven city street projects underway or on deck By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Traffic and roads are the uppermost problems for most Johns Creek residents, and the city is answering the call with five major projects under construction and three more projects pending with contracts totaling $11.678 million. That means relief is coming, but there is going to be some heartburn as well. Just two weeks ago, Johns Creek drivers heading east on Old Alabama Road saw red when the left turn signal on Old Alabama at Medlock Bridge Road wasn’t functioning, causing a tremendous logjam and backup until it got straightened out. That is a Georgia Department of Transportation project. The problem there occurred
when the sensor in the turn lane was not moved to another lane when it was closed down. Without the sensor to tell the light there was traffic backed up in the turn lane, the light remained on quick-change mode. “That sensor wasn’t moved, so the system failed,” said Public Works Director Tom Black. As a GDOT-managed program, the city was not responsible, but it got the heat from residents anyway. Johns Creek traffic has long been a hot topic. The city’s reality is more than 110,000 people have moved into surrounding communities just since 2010, and more are on the way. Two state highways intersect at Medlock Bridge Road (Ga. 120) and Abbots Bridge Road (Ga. 120) and McGinnis Ferry Road, which has almost
FILE PHOTO
Five major projects are currently under construction and three more are pending with contracts. as much traffic, is slated to become four lanes in the coming years if not months. Black said some glitches are inevitable with paving and
engineering projects happening on many of the major thoroughfares in the city. Beyond human error, these projects drawn on paper can have
unforeseen problems in the substrata of the surfaces that can cause delays.
See ROADS, Page 4
Families in crisis can turn to The Hub By HATCHER HURD hatcher@appenmediagroup.com
HATCHER HURD/STAFF
Liz Hausmann and Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker, center, cut the ribbon for The Hub Family Resource Center.
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – You found your daughter unresponsive in bed after taking too many pills and the paramedics came and revived her. Where do you turn after you’ve dialed 911? It probably should be The Hub Family Resource Center, a new nonprofit clearinghouse to help families deal
with growing mental-health issues and drug-addiction concerns in the North Fulton community. At its ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 16 in Johns Creek, Executive Director Remco Brommet said the need for such a facility is as great in North Fulton as anywhere in the county, perhaps more because it is blessed with such afflu-
See HUB, Page 42