The Brookhaven City Council has approved $1.1 million for repaving several roads, one of three contracts that will finish out the 2024-2026 paving program.
“Maintaining our road infrastructure is a public safety issue for first responders, an economic development issue for our business community, and a quality-of-life issue for residents,” said District 2 Council Member Jennifer Owens in a release from the city. “Apple Valley Road is a critical corridor, and people will absolutely notice the difference.”
Apple Valley Road has been consistently identified as one of the streets most in need of repaving.
“We loved getting our roadways paved, and we love riding on smooth surfaces, and yes, Apple Valley is included,” said Mayor Pro Tem John Funny during the Feb. 24 meeting. “We all know how badly it needs it.”
Brookhaven, at its Feb. 24 meeting, awarded the contract to Blount Construction for $961,771 with a contingency fund up to $192,354 for Full Depth Reclamation (FDR) and repaving of six roads. The funding comes from 2024 & 2025 Local Maintenance Infrastructure Grant (LMIG) funds with a local match not to exceed $225,634.
FDR refers to an eco-friendly,pavement rehabilitation technique that excavates and pulverizes existing asphalt and mixes it with Portland cement into a portion of the underlying base material, according to the city’s information. Each road will be excavated 6 to 12 inches to create a new, stronger, stabilized base before resurfacing.
“The LMIG program provides tremendous opportunity for Brookhaven to improve pedestrian and vehicular safety as well as allowing us to partner with the state and achieve a common goal, to enhance our transportation infrastructure with minimal impact for Brookhaven taxpayers,” Brookhaven Mayor John Parks said in the release. “Brookhaven should have the best streets in the metro Atlanta area, if not the entire state. The progress we are making brings us closer to this goal.”
“This will not be the end of paving in 2026,” said Interim Public Works Director Tom Roberts. “Later this year we will be awarding the 2026 LMIG paving program in addition to the annual milling and resurfacing contract. More to come.”
Related story:
• Brookhaven starts 2024 paving program
According to the city’s paving program website, Brookhaven completed 13.8 lane miles of 40 streets in 2018, 6.85 lane miles of 20 streets in 2019, 4.92 lane miles of 15 streets in 2020, 4.24 lane miles of 22 streets in 2021/2022, 10,790 linear feet (2.04 miles) of Johnson Ferry Road, connecting Chamblee, Brookhaven, and Sandy Springs, in 2023, and 7.1 lane miles over 28 streets in 2024.
Paving is expected to begin this month. Start and end dates are tentative and may change based on weather and other unforeseen circumstances.