Georgetown Gateway, Dunwoody’s largest project in its 15 years of existence and more than a decade in planning and construction, will be essentially complete by July.
According to city of Dunwoody officials, final paving began in early June on Chamblee Dunwoody Road, which includes the bridge over I-285 north to Chateau Drive, and is expected to take seven to 10 days to complete. But that is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the scope of the project.
The massive undertaking included the extension of the Dunwoody trail way in both directions along Chamblee Dunwoody Road from Georgetown Park, the creation of a new streetscape with trees, lighting and wider sidewalks, as well as utility relocation and upgrades to water and sewer main pipes.
The $7.4 million project was funded through a combination of federal, county and local funds, according to Dunwoody Public Works Director Michael Smith.
About $4.7 million of the total was covered by a federal grant. DeKalb County provided $575,000 for the water main upgrade and the city is using capital funds for the remaining $2.1 million,” he said.
Revitalizing the area started as a concept in 2012, with the city soliciting public input beginning in 2014. The project kicked off in 2021 with the utility work, then progressed into the other elements, ones that have vexed drivers and pedestrians trying to navigate through the various phases of construction, including lane and sidewalk closures.
In 2021, residents became concerned about the amount of mature trees that had been taken down, particularly along a stretch of road from the Georgetown Shopping Center to Peeler Road, but city officials assured them that the replanting program that will see at least 85 trees would more than compensate for the ones that had to be removed.
Traffic snarls continued, exacerbated by a bizarre incident in March 2023, when a man impersonating an off-duty police officer directed traffic at the Chamblee Dunwoody Road entrance to the Georgetown Shopping Center, causing chaos and confusion.
Despite the city’s continued efforts to inform the public through social media, press releases, signage, and website updates, people attempting to negotiate the Chamblee Dunwoody Road, which has an on-ramp to I-285 West, have reported long delays and chaotic traffic patterns. Further snarling the pattern is the Georgia DOT repaving project, which is ongoing this month in the Dunwoody/Sandy Springs area.
Local resident Lisa Victory reported on June 11 a frustrating experience when she was trying to negotiate the last mile to her doctor’s office, which is located just inside the Perimeter on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.
“This morning, southbound traffic on Chamblee Dunwoody was backed up beyond the old Chamblee Middle [School] site – so many people were doing U-turns because that line of cars wasn’t moving,” she posted on social media. “Eventually, I joined the U-turners. It was faster to go back to Shallowford, under 285, right on Savoy, to get back to Chamblee Dunwoody inside 285. Ridiculous. And inexcusable, for how long this has been going on.”
Other drivers reported that traffic to the ramp was intermittently opened and closed this week while paving on the ramp ensued, and that they waited more than 30 minutes to get on the interstate.
“Wish they had just closed it entirely for a period of time and ripped the Band-Aid off quickly, but instead they’re dragging it out and making a total mess of things,” said a post on the Dunwoody Area Community Forum’s Facebook page.
“We understand that people don’t like delays and we’ve done a lot to try to communicate what is going on,” Smith said. “The scope of the project was huge, and included putting in infrastructure for the next 50 years. There were a lot of projects that had to be done where the timeline was out of our hands.”
Smith said drivers and pedestrians will soon start to see “more heavy equipment going out than coming in” once paving is complete, and replanting of any already-installed landscaping that may be struggling or dead.
“We are really pleased with the way things look on the north side of the project from Peeler to Chateau, and we are excited about how it will all look soon,” Smith said.
