Consultants working on Brookhaven’s Dresden Drive Intersection Improvement Study provided an update on the expanded scope of the project during a Thursday virtual public forum.
The study aims to identify operational and safety advancements at different intersections along Dresden Drive, and then make those recommendations to the Brookhaven City Council. While the study initially focused on intersections at Apple Valley Road, Ellijay Road, Caldwell Road, and Clairmont Road, feedback caused the consultant team to expand the scope of the project.
“After developing initial recommendations and receiving community feedback, the city decided to expand the analysis area to include additional intersections and streets in Brookhaven Fields and Ashford Park,” said Erin Thoresen, a transportation planner with the firm Gresham Smith. “It was also decided to analyze traffic impacts in the newly expanded study area based on all potential and planned developments within the vicinity of Dresden Drive, not just the approved ones.”
Thoresen said that the team collected new traffic count data in January of this year. In total, the team collected new traffic counts at 21 intersections and 22 roadway segments. The team presented three different traffic growth scenarios – low, medium, and high – in three different future years – 2027, 2037, and 2047. Each growth scenario can be viewed in a traffic study technical memo on the project website.
The consultant team also performed intersection capacity analysis, which includes looking at the level of service and delay, at five key intersections along Dresden Drive: Peachtree Road, Apple Valley Road, Ellijay Road, Caldwell Road, and Clairmont Road.
Nithin Gomez, a senior transportation engineer with Gresham Smith went over the different types of recommendations that the team could use this data to make. Those recommendations could fall under the umbrellas of intersection improvements for walkers, bikers, and drivers alike; intersection turn restrictions; and roadway access restrictions to cut down on thru-traffic in certain locations.
Gomez said the team will also consider providing more bicycle accommodations along Dresden Drive, such narrowing lanes or removing on-street parking.
The city will hold another public meeting about the study’s progress in April. The final report is expected to be submitted to the city by June.
“The findings of the project will be documented in a final study report, which will be the planning document where we’ll summarize the process we have followed in coming up with the recommendations,” Gomez said.
The Dresden Drive public meeting can be viewed on the city’s Facebook page. More information about the study can be found on the city’s website.