The Dunwoody City Council at its Jan. 27 meeting discussed a recommendation to continue the closure of a turnoff lane from Mt. Vernon Road onto Nandina Lane.
According to a presentation by Jonathan DiGioia, the city’s safe streets program manager, from 2017-2023, there had been 50 automobile accidents, and one reported pedestrian crash with injuries. The reconfiguration of the intersection was identified as an action item in the Dunwoody Village Master Plan.
Last October, the northbound turn onto Nandina Lane off Mt. Vernon Road was closed, resulting in negative feedback from drivers. Access remains closed today, and city officials are now asking to the move to the next phase – continuing the closure, and adding striping and other road markings to “narrow down” the street.
DiGioia also said a permanent solution, involving realigning the road to change the cross-section to a 90 degree angle would take years to implement, so the cheaper, second phase the staff is proposing would be a lower-cost solution.
About a dozen people provided feedback about the closure, including drivers who didn’t like the longer travel times to get to destinations like Primrose School and ingress and egress at retail establishments like Dunkin’ Donuts and Mt. Vernon Cleaners located next to Nandina Lane.
Council Member John Heneghan echoed those concerns, saying that those businesses may see a decrease in revenue with the continuation of the blocked turn lane.
“They didn’t sign up for this pilot project,” he said.
Other council members, including Catherine Lautenbacher, said they supported the continued lane closures but had questions about its timing and implementation. No action was taken at the meeting.
The council also heard a fourth quarter economic development update from Dunwoody Director of Economic Development Michael Starling, which discussed the retail growth at High Street and thoughts about possible avenues of growth to explore.
Starling said despite the perception, the retail market is growing, with more than 200,000 square feet added in the last 18 months, and that the current retail vacancy rate is only 4 percent.
In other action,
- Commended Sgt. Trey Nelson for being recognized as officer of the year by the Georgia Office of Highway Safety for his efforts to combat distracted driving;
- Heard an update regarding the city’s comprehensive plan & unified development ordinance;
- Listened to an annual wrap-up of the 2024 activities and future plans for Create Dunwoody, which was formed to foster an arts and cultural scene within the city;
- Approved the expenditure of $65,000 by a 5-1 vote to install a19-foot sculpture called “Human Interfusion” as part of the Georgetown Gateway Project on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Heneghan was the dissenting vote;
- Discussed a memo of understanding to develop a partnership with the United States Postal Service to help with investigating and prosecuting criminal offenses related to trafficking of controlled substances/other dangerous drugs and violations of money laundering statutes.
