Real Estate Report Sponsored section ►►page 20
UDC answers
Council members give pros, cons ►►page 6
Roswell’s green
The circus is back in town
City unveils town green plans ►►page 4
Big Apple comes to Alpharetta ►►page 15
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Alpharetta-Roswell
Revue News
February 6, 2014 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 32, No. 6
State of the City Address »
Mayor Wood sees vibrant, ‘walkable’ city center Will develop ‘Old Town Roswell’ By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com
DAVID BROWN/STAFF
In Milton, Hopewell Road was like so many others – clogged with traffic and abandoned vehicles.
Cities grapple with gridlock, snow
‘Frustrated’ crews respond to clogged traffic By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@northfulton.com NORTH FULTON, Ga. – If you ever wanted to know what Atlanta’s roads looked like with every resident driving on them, Tuesday, Jan. 28 should give a glimpse.
Schools, businesses and governments all shut down about the same time, turning workers out onto the streets at the same time. Variously called “Snowmageddon,” “Snowpocalypse,” or “SnOMG,” local governments were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of motorists on the road and the worsening conditions throughout the day. A commute that would normally take 20 minutes turned into a 10-, 14- or 20-hour drive.
Alpharetta had 50 Public Works Department employees begin salting the roads as the snow began on Tuesday, said Public Works Director Pete Sewczwicz. Over the course of Tuesday and the following day, Sewczwicz said hundreds of tons of sand and salt were put down by workers working 12hour shifts. Unfortunately, as traffic grew, so did the problems.
See SNOW, Page 22
ROSWELL, Ga. – In Roswell Mayor Jere Wood’s annual State of the City address, Jan. 31, he spoke of new opportunities for the city to grow in its downtown area as part of a grand revitalization effort that is already underway. In addition to the vision for the City Hall green that will visually connect to Canton Street, Wood said the city will concentrate the city’s future growth primarily along the Ga. 9 (Atlanta Street) corridor south of Holcomb Bridge Road. “For 60 years, Roswell grew by converting vacant land into subdivisions and shopping centers. Today, there is almost no vacant land left,” Wood told business leaders of the city. “In the future, Roswell’s growth will occur in the corridor south of Holcomb Bridge including Canton Street.” Indeed, Canton Street will serve as a model of the kind of mixed-use environment in what Wood is calling “Old Town Roswell,” that will feature small-town living in a large suburban city. “Most of the area we are talking about is within the 1854 boundary of the city,” Wood said. “City growth will occur in Old Town Roswell by converting old strip centers and apartments into a walkable village.” The concept is to create a
2014 Capital Improvement Projects • $9M for Holcomb Bridge Road improvements • $3M traffic control system for Ga. 9; Ga. 92 • $1M roundabout at Houze and Hembree roads • $1.5M multipurpose trail east of Horseshoe Bend • $1M multipurpose trail along Eves Road • $700,000 bike track connecting Roswell Square and the river along Marietta Street • $1.5M for Old Alabama fire station • $3M to extend Chattahoochee Boardwalk to Nature Center • $2.5M for senior center therapeutic pool village-like atmosphere that will have the small shops, stores, businesses and restaurants that are close enough to visit by walking. People will be able to shop, do their errands and work without ever using their car. “In a walkable village, you can walk everywhere you normally need to go,” Wood said. “This means living close
See ROSWELL, Page 10