COMMUNITY
SCENE
Water, water everywhere
Gospel improvisations
Stone Mountain residents were temporarily trapped in their neighborhood when a broken main sent water gushing into the street. 3
Julie Dexter and others are scheduled to perform June 24 at a Jazz Goes Gospel benefit concert at Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church. 5
Let’s Keep DeKalb Peachy Clean Please Don’t Litter Our Streets and Highways
EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER
Copyright © 2017 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
June 24, 2017
Volume 23, Number 8
www.crossroadsnews.com
I-285 completion date now 2019 Guns legal Construction on the $34.8 million interchange reconstruction project at Flat Shoals Parkway and I-285 was originally slated for completion in September 2017.
Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews
Unforeseen water line issue stalls bridge replacement Angelina T. Velasquez
South DeKalb residents will have to wait almost two more years for the completion of the Flat Shoals Road/I-285 interchange. Georgia Department of Transportation officials told concerned residents at a June 19 meeting that the earliest the 3.5-mile project will be completed is Feburary 2019. Kathy Zahul, GDOT’s district engineer, said the delay is unplanned and caused by an unforeseen issue with a water main that runs across the interstate and has stalled the rebuilding of the Panthersville overpass bridge. “As we were building the eastbound onramp we discovered that the water line shot up at 45 degrees through the embankment directly where the new ramp will be built,” she told more than 50 residents who attended the community meeting at New Life Baptist Church. “We now have to construct a pathway beneath I-285 to relocate the water
line without stopping use of the highway or impeding water supply to residents.” Construction on the $34.8 million project, which was first proposed in 2001, began in February 2015 and was originally slated for completion in September 2017. Most of the work on the road has come to a virtual standstill in recent months. The 24-inch water line that has crippled the project will require a 30-inch casing to tunnel it beneath I-285. Zahul said it took nine months to address the waterline issue and that it will add more than $3 million to the project’s costs. The interchange construction, which has reduced lanes to one in either direction, has contributed to frustrating traffic backups. Residents and motorists who witnessed the speed with which GDOT rebuilt the collapsed I-85 bridge in Atlanta, said the agency needs to be transparent about the status of Flat Shoals/I-285 construction. The project, taking place between Pan-
thersville Road and the Sonic Drive-In restaurant at 3900 Flat Shoals Parkway, includes the reconfiguration of the interchange. Two bridges – a new I-285 overpass bridge along Flat Shoals Parkway/State Road 155, and a new Panthersville Road Bridge over I-285 – will be rebuilt. The Flat Shoals overpass bridge will provide two through lanes in each direction, bike lanes on both sides, and dual left-turn lanes either direction onto I-285. The interstate exit ramps will be widened to include dual left-turn and right-turn lanes onto Flat Shoals Parkway and on the interstate entrance ramps, and three lanes will be added where the ramps intersect with Flat Shoals Parkway, tapering to one lane toward I-285. Zahul brought a slide presentation to the meeting with photos of the plans and the construction that has taken place so far. Please see OVERPASS, page 2
on campus as of July 1
Starting July 1, college students in DeKalb County and across Georgia will be able to carry guns on campus - legally. The ability to carry firearms into most areas of public college campuses goes into effect under HB 280, which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal on May 4. Under the law, licensed gun owners can carry concealed weapons on college campus, except in “sensitive places” such as campus preschools, disciplinary hearings, or faculty and administrative offices. Other banned areas include athletic venues and student housing. When he signed the law, Deal said that unfortunately, in parts of the state, the path to higher education travels through dangerous territory, and that students have been targeted because they were not permitted to carry protection going to or from a campus. “In recent years, we’ve witnessed college students fall victim to violent attacks in or while traveling to libraries and academic buildings, and while traveling to and from their homes to class,” Deal said. Georgia is the second state this year to legalize guns on campuses, after Arkansas. In 2007, Utah became the first state to allow campus carry. About 10 states now have some form of campus carry, and last year, nearly 20 bills were introduced nationwide by state lawmakers. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley, who spoke against Georgia’s bill, said the system would issue implementation guidance to all institutions ahead of the July 1 effective date. “We recognize that many have strong feelings about this new law,” he said. “It is important that we all work together across our campuses to implement the new law appropriately and continue to provide a top-quality education to our students.” For more information, visit https:// georgia.gov.