The Dunwoody City Council voted Sept. 12 to fund a new transportation plan for $68,000.
Mayor Denis Shortal cast the lone no vote.
Public Works Director Michael Smith requested the council approve hiring Pond & Co. to come up with the plan that includes a public meeting and presentation to the council. The city’s inaugural transportation plan was completed in 2011.
“It’s been five years since our last plan and it’s time to take a new look,” Smith said.
Shortal said the plan the city has now is “pretty good” and suggested saving the city $68,000 by using internal staff to tweak the current plan.
“Do we really need to spend on an outside source when we have great expertise with the city?” Shortal asked Smith.
Smith said there is benefit to bringing in a fresh set of eyes on such a project.
“Certainly we have people on staff who can do this, but if we did it in-house it would take a lot longer and be a lot less in-depth,” Smith said. Pond Co. will be updating the city’s transportation project list, compiling accident data to pinpoint trouble spots and conducting a traffic analysis.
“If you ask the people, they will tell you” how to fix traffic problems, Shortal said.
Five years ago when the city paid for its first transportation plan, three tiers of improvements were outlined. Smith said the city has finished approximately 75 percent of the tier one improvements, including adding sidewalks, bike lanes and intersection improvements. The city has not yet completed any tier two or tier three projects, he said.