NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The prospect of widening a busy Sandy Springs road has neighbors concerned about the future.
Sandy Springs leaders this month approved the purchase of some vacant homes on Hammond Drive, rekindling debate over whether the city plans to widen the stretch between Roswell Road and Glenridge Drive.
"This project really destroys our neighborhood," said Steve Oppenheimer, the president of the Glenridge Hammond neighborhood association.
Oppenheimer told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik Hammond Drive cuts through the middle of the 400-plus-home neighborhood.
"The project would include houses on both sides of the road," he said.
Oppenheimer said he and his neighbors are concerned about the project compromising the character of the city's oldest and largest neighborhoods.
"What we'd like to see is the addition of sidewalks and bike lanes on the existing road, which would get a lot of traffic off the road," he said.
Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said the stretch in question is a traffic bottleneck.
"We know at some point, probably over the next 10 years, we're going to need to widen that section of Hammond Drive," he told Petchenik.
Paul said the city purchased the empty homes now because it doesn't want to pay more for the land in several years if and when the project happens.
"We've got to deal with the traffic through there, but we're not going to try and strip the neighborhood and damage the residential character of that area," he said.
Oppenheimer said he wants the city to be transparent about the project so neighbors can prepare.
"This project has a real dubious past," he said. "We're asking for (a) time frame to remove this cloud of uncertainty and to define the terms of a study and a timeline of a study."
Cox Media Group
