Sandy Springs held open houses Feb. 24-26 for its Transportation Master Plan, a planning document identifying priority projects around the city for future funding rounds.
This November, Fulton County residents will vote in a referendum to continue the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST), which is set to expire at the end of March 2027.
Incorporated cities in Fulton County, excluding Atlanta, share the sales tax revenue based on their population. The county’s sales tax is paid by anyone who buys taxable products or services in Fulton County, outside the city limits of Atlanta.
The collection of the 0.75 percent (3/4 of a cent) sales tax began in April 2017. In 2021, Fulton County voters opted to renew the transportation sales tax for another five years, keeping the total at 7.75 percent.
TSPLOST projects fund traffic safety and congestion relief, bridges, road maintenance and paving, sidewalks, multi-use paths, and bicycle lanes. Examples in Sandy Springs include the Johnson Ferry Road at Mount Vernon Highway realignment, PATH400, and corridor improvements along Hammond Drive, Mount Vernon Highway, and Roswell Road’s North End Boulevard.
Directing tax dollars
The Sandy Springs transportation projects are developed with a tiered revenue structure, prioritizing funding for high-ranked projects before addressing other ones. During the 2021-27 collection period, the city designated more than $114 million toward various projects.
The city collects more than $35 million a year from its share of countywide sales tax revenue. According to the city’s latest unaudited financials from December 2025, Sandy Springs has about $76 million in its Truist Bank account for the TSPLOST 2016 and 2021 fund.
A massive upcoming transportation improvement project, the Hammond Drive widening project has a price tag close to $60 million and is set to begin later this year.
Sandy Springs Transportation Manager Kristen Wescott said the city will finalize the five-year update to its Transportation Master Plan in May, after months of community feedback.
The city classifies its list of potential transportation projects by region: north, central, and south. Recommended projects in the next 10 years include bicycle and pedestrian facilities along Holcomb Bridge Road into the city of Roswell; corridor improvements along Peachtree Dunwoody Road north of Abernathy Road; and traffic flow enhancement at Northside Drive and I-285.
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Residents attending the Feb. 24 open house at the North Fulton Government Service Center placed sticky notes describing their desired transportation tips on a map of the city.
Suggestions included “Do not block the box” markings at congested intersections along the Mount Vernon Highway and Abernathy Road, radar speed signs to calm traffic, intersection realignment, and updated traffic light sequences.
The online survey is open until March 12. The city says input will be used to “help prioritize projects for the 2026 TSPLOST referendum.
Prioritizing walkability in Sandy Springs
Steve Feldman, president of the Grogan’s Bluff Homeowners Association, said he wants the city to prioritize filling gaps in sidewalk networks, rather than pursuing more expensive nature trails.
Feldman said he wants the city to construct sidewalks along Adair Lane rather than pursue grants to construct segment 2C of the Morgan Falls Loop, which would dead-end near his HOA’s clubhouse parking lot.
“Our concern as a neighborhood is that if the trail goes in, it ends right at our clubhouse,” Feldman said. “Then people start parking along the street, it becomes my problem, and I have to put signs up.”
Besides existing plans for the segment, Feldman said he supports connecting sidewalk gaps, fixing choke points along Roswell Road, and eliminating reversible lanes.
In early February, Council Member Melody Kelley asked Public Works Director Marty Martin if Adair Lane could be added to the sidewalk plan. The roadway has no walkway for residents to access Morgan Falls Overlook Park transportation along Roswell Road.
The segment is now listed on the sidewalk master plan.
“It would make more sense to connect the current trail to the parking lot near the athletic fields,” Feldman said. “They’re doing a trail to nowhere. Again, in the future, they want to connect something. But why not do something now, where you connect two places?”