Key points:
- A car drove off Roswell Road Jan. 5, striking the curb and flying through a utility pole before landing in a daycare parking lot.
- A resident expressed urgency for safety improvements, suggesting guardrails, buffers, and enforced speed limits to enhance safety.
- The city plans to fill gaps in sidewalks along the state route and update its transportation master plan.
It’s indisputable that Metro Atlanta drivers often exceed the speed limit along Roswell Road through the city of Sandy Springs. Residents are encouraging more action after a car flipped off the road and split a telephone pole in half during the first week of 2026.
Sandy Springs father Vladimir Shklovsky was on the scene immediately following the Jan. 5 collision that left two cars totaled outside of a local daycare and preschool.
He spoke about his concern during the Jan. 6 Sandy Springs City Council meeting. His oldest children are preschool alumni, now attending nearby High Point Elementary.
“Yesterday on Roswell Road, a car crashed off the road, flew up in the air, knocked halfway through a telephone call, and then totaled a daycare teacher’s car in the parking lot,” Shklovsky said. “Luckily, no one was injured, but I want people to take this seriously.”
He then cited a March 2025 incident where an impaired driver struck and killed a Sandy Springs man who was walking along Roswell Road near Mystic Place, just a few hundred feet away from the Jan. 5 crash.
“Multiple drivers have driven off the road towards the daycare in recent years,” Shklovsky said, citing damage to the property and bollards protecting pedestrians. “It’s only a matter of time until this pattern of crashes at that location ends in tragedy.”
Consistent safety concerns
Shklovsky said he’s been tracking the city’s ongoing sidewalk projects along the southern end of Roswell Road for a few years. However, he thinks more needs to be done to keep the hundreds of pedestrians who use sidewalks daily safe.
“You don’t need the full plan to build a guardrail at a point where there are consistent crashes,” Shklovsky said. “I think the sidewalk design has a green buffer and a wider paved area. That’s great, but there needs to be protection. It needs to be impact-rated.”
His other suggestions include repairing crumbling sidewalks, adding a curb that raises the sidewalk above street level, and possibly installing a landscaped buffer with trees.
Other than significant sidewalk and buffer improvements, Shklovsky advocates for heightened speed limit enforcement and better awareness from drivers.
To read more, visit his Safer Sandy Springs blog.
Council members later accepted the donation of right-of-way for sidewalks on the west side of Roswell Road as a part of the consent agenda, which bundles routine items.
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The narrow strips of land are just a couple of hundred yards away from the daycare at 4669 Roswell Rd. Late last year, council members approved a $790,000 settlement with the property owner of 5674 and 5696 Roswell Road for the condemnation of less than 0.05 acres of right-of-way necessary for the ongoing sidewalk project.
The city has plans to construct modern, accessible sidewalks along State Route 9 from the Atlanta-Buckhead border to Interstate 285. Features include curb ramps, bus stop shelters, lighting, brick pavers, and landscaping.
Next steps for residents
Because Roswell Road is a state route, the Georgia Department of Transportation is also involved in any roadway alterations. The slope of the state route near the crash location is relatively severe, and drivers often break the 35 mph speed limit.
According to city documentation, new signals, access to the state route right-of-way, and signal modifications require permitting through GDOT. The city is working on filling the remaining sidewalk gaps along the corridor.
Shklovsky said he’s emphasizing the need for city action on safety improvements for people using Roswell Road sidewalks. The city is working on an update to its transportation master plan this year.
“We’re a short distance away from tons of places my kids could walk to, and it’s totally unsafe,” he said, standing at the site of the crash a week later. “It’s really the only downside. I don’t want to live in a different part of Sandy Springs.”