Key points:
• Construction activity on the SR 400 Express Lanes project in Sandy Springs will begin this spring.
• Tree clearing will resume in March before heavy construction begins this summer between the North Springs MARTA Station and Woodland Elementary School.
• Sandy Springs officials are asking for GDOT to communicate more with impacted neighborhoods and share final designs.
Sandy Springs leadership interrogated the Georgia Department of Transportation and its private-sector partner Feb. 6 about construction of the SR 400 Express Lanes project during the City Council’s annual retreat.
Heavy construction on the SR 400 expansion is expected to begin in July, adding two ground-level lanes in each direction through the center of the existing state highway. City officials are concerned about the impacts on the Spalding Woods and Talbot Colony neighborhoods abutting the state route, as well as traffic congestion.
Already, GDOT contractors are scheduling overnight and daytime lane closures along the corridor to perform roadwork activities in advance of the project. Sandy Springs residents and anyone traveling the SR 400 corridor saw tree clearing last fall.
Project kickoff
The 16-mile express lanes project stretches from the North Springs MARTA station (Exit 5C) in Sandy Springs to southern Forsyth County, one mile north of McFarland Parkway (Exit 12). MARTA’s bus rapid transit will operate in the barrier-separated express lanes.
SR 400 Peach Partners, a consortium of domestic and international engineering and construction firms, has a 56-year, $4.6 billion contract to design, build, operate, and maintain the 16 miles of highway.
Peach Partners CEO Javier Gutierrez spoke at the retreat. Gutierrez works for Meridiam, a global private investment firm and asset manager based in Paris, France. It’s one of the firms that comprise Peach Partners, including Madrid-based ACS Group and Acciona, as well as Virginia-based Parsons.
“We’ve raised over $11 billion to deliver the project,” Gutierrez said, explaining a combination of private bond sales, the developers’ equity, a $3.9 loan from USDOT, and a $120 million state contribution. “As we’ve seen in other areas of the country, or with similar projects, after we open to traffic, residents are very happy.”
SR 400 in Sandy Springs carries around 185,000 vehicles per day, according to GDOT traffic counts in 2024. Rush-hour congestion is a daily occurrence along the corridor, with bottlenecks at I-285.
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Starting in Sandy Springs
One of the three segments where construction will begin this spring is in Sandy Springs, extending from the North Springs MARTA Station to Woodland Elementary School.
Tree clearing is scheduled to resume in March, with construction activities beginning sometime before mid-June. According to GDOT’s February update, the Sandy Springs subsegment is projected to be open in February 2031.
GDOT Express Lanes Construction Program Manager Beau Charles said a noise mitigation study is still in progress and expected to be completed by the end of the year. He said final wall locations and heights will be set later, adding that there are contractual requirements for “noise walls” during construction.
“We do have some additional clearing activities scheduled to begin March 1, whenever our restrictions lift,” Charles said. “And construction is scheduled to start, once again, in spring of ’26.”
The project is divided into four phases: constructing the new southbound lanes; shifting the new and existing traffic lanes west to build the new northbound lanes on the east side; moving lanes back east to build the central express lanes; and then rerouting lanes to their final configuration.
Charles said once final, site-specific designs are completed, contractors will be sent out to begin work.
Local concerns
Mayor Rusty Paul said city leadership has a strong relationship with GDOT, citing phone calls with Commissioner Russell McMurry about a tractor-trailer crash and other successful project partnerships
“The challenge for us is particularly in that Spalding Drive area, the impact of this construction on a couple of our residential neighborhoods,” Paul said. “They’re going to be staring at a 50-foot wall … You’re going to be operating there 24/7 for four years, that’s going to be an intolerable situation for people who live there … We’re going to have to find some solutions to mitigate the impact on those neighborhoods, particularly people who live right in front of the lay-down yard.”
Elected officials expressed concerns about impacts on city roadway projects, like the Hammond Drive widening project, GDOT’s responsiveness, traffic control services, and the construction schedule.
Work on the interchange at I-285 and SR 400 was delayed several times and finished years late.
Council Member John Paulson, an engineer, said the section of state route through Sandy Springs is unique because of the neighborhoods abutting the corridor. He represents District 1 in northeast Sandy Springs, including neighborhoods on both sides of the highway.
“The comments of last week were a little surprise to everybody in that neighborhood, because there was discussion about the project’s retaining walls actually getting right up near Northgreen [Drive], as opposed to this idea of having this green space and this vegetation,” Paulson said, asking for more collaboration and consistent messaging. “I think if you’re hiding something, you’d never meet with us. So, I appreciate you being here.”
For more information and to sign up for alerts, visit the project page.
