They have no business in tearing up another roadway, until they (the city, engineers & contractors),. until they FINISH the absolute mess they have created on Concord Road! Buying up houses, razing them, cutting old growth oaks & leaving vast areas of rundown , vacant lots & crumbeling sidewalks ... IS NOT attracting good people OR businesses to this forgotten wasteland!

$2.7M to improve the looks of a road or two. I assume this is part of the old SPLOST and there's nothing they can do about it, but it seems a little stupid right now. And for all the talk about Concord Road, I don't think they will ever do anything with it. It's always been a problem, and probably always will be.

Pam, FYI,.. the 2005 SPLOST had 8.2 million for the Concord Rd. section between South Cobb & Atlanta Rd. That 8.2 million is almost GONE-- a little more than 5 million was paid for the 15 or so properties,... including the old car wash next toAce! I went to the 2007 meeting for Concord Road. At the 2007 meeting w/ Croy Engineering,... they led us to believe the project was about to begin & that it would take several years!! Then somewhere along the line, the city decides to BUY a bunch of property & leave a huge disaster,... instead just completing a trail,.. some turn lanes & some streetscapimg. Now the FOOLISH voters of Cobb, have voted ANOTHER 11 MILLION dollars to complete the EXACT same project!!
And NO-ONE, except me ,... sees there might be something 'funny' going on?
If the people in Smyrna would wake up & get off their butts, we could put a stop to these shennanigans & make sure money is spent the way it's supposed to!
And as far as Atlanta Rd. goes,... they need to plant some more trees to SHADE the sidewalks,... make the crosswalks prettier & safer & move on to OTHER areas of Smyrna that DESPERATELY need beautification,... the 5 points area by Hawthorn & Roswell Rd., King Springs, between Concord & South Cobb,. the Villages Parkway, Windy Hill & South Cobb.
Smyrna really has no true vision!! :(
(Smyrna also has NO - 'TREE PROTECTION ORDINANCE- like other cities, Alpharetta, Milton, Dunwoody, Decatur, Atlanta, Sandy Spings! NO TREE SAVE ORDINANCE-in 2011???

I met with Keith Williams weeks ago to talk about atl.rd project. What I got out of the meeting was wider sidewalks and tree scape on the sidewalk side would maybe... come much later. I also don,t understand why they can,t put just a bike path on the side of the R.R tracks. It seems the city all ready owns that part of the road. The side walk they want to destroy is in great shape. The R.R. side would eventually meet up with the bike path past windy hill rd. But that would mean the engineer co. that is doing the work would not get paid as much money. I also sat in on the smyrna tree board meeting last nite. I wanted to know why this group and the smyrna tree arborist did not save a 200 yr old tree on the powder springs property behind the community center. They have it fenced off and covered it so no one can see the dirty work. I examined the dead tree trunk of the downed tree and it looked to be solid healthy with no signs of stress or rot. It also was near the tree save area on the property. The owners of this property should have gotten a second opinion(like I am going to do today). This tree did not have to come down. Smyrna mayor and council only want this tree board around so they can say they have a tree board but only recognize them as a title and ignore the fact they can,t save trees because of the weak and obsolete tree ordinance. It is time to issue a new tree ordinance. The only way to do that is vote out the old mayor and council come november.

I was not able to attend the meeting; therefore, I wasn't able to hear the logic of the Atlanta Road development. It does seem to me that this is a "nice to have" and that there are considerably more pressing needs for our limited monies, for expample, many of our streets are in pretty sad shape and should be repaired. I'm sure there are other more needs that should be adddressed. The "nice to have" projects should be postponed until our City is in a better financial position.

Tann and others, I will be providing more of a follow-up to the events of Tuesday night's meeting. It will also briefly include updates on other projects. Out the door for another meeting now, but I will get to this I promise. In other news, if anyone knows how to clone a Patch Editor, let me know. And oh yeah, we're still looking for bloggers.

I have the 2005 Smyrna SPLOST check registry . It is available through open records @ city hall.
I wish Patch would put a link to it on their website. Smyrna SHOULD,... but they know theres a lot to hide in it!. It is eye opening, to say the least.
Croy Engineering is under a yearly contract for $250,000 to be 'program manager', overseeing all Smyrna Splost projects,
Looking @ checks written out of Splost account for different projects, Croy Engineering seems to be a regular reciever!
Pam, if you would like to see the check register,.. contact Hunt @ Patch,. he can hook you up w/ me!
Thanks!

the city does not own Belmont Hills. Halpern Enterprises owns Belmont Hills.

I also thought Norcross was awesome! Quaint , walkable village. We definately took notice there were many many huge old trees , lots of meandering paths & lots of native plants.
The historic area was thriving, w/ resturants, antique stores, book stores, etc. (Market Village-empty!)All the roads were designed to slow traffic & were very pedestrian & bicycle friendly.(All roads in Smyrna are wide , ugly speedways). We didn't see many lights in the parks, just very few downlights. We didn't see any huge flood lights aimed @ city hall,(like Smyrna ,Brawner Hall & overlit ball parks!) ... just a small light aimed @ the 'protected' 2nd oldest elm tree in the state of Georgia (outside of city hall).We saw lots of cool built houses & businesses! (Smyrna's housing style is vey bland/new homes nothing but cookie cutter!!)
We also found very very friendly, open, happy people , wanting to talk about living in Norcross.
So, Sean Murphy, Norcross & Smyrna are exact OPPOSITES! Why are you doing such a lousey job in Smyrna??

So the city wants to spend a few million of our tax dollars for no reason other than to make it a pain in the butt for residents who live on Atlanta road to get in and out?

Is there alot of left turning accidents on Atlanta Road that i dont see driving it 4 times a day?

The skinny bridge on Campbell should be replaced, but the Atlanta Road median seems to be a complete waste of money. (are they raising the funds to do it by having the cop hide in the bushes at the stop sign all day & half the night?)
They;d probably even figure out a way to bulldoze the 300 yr old oak tree behind the BP station in the process.

I know where the term tree hugging hippin comes from, to be honest, how on earth did that tree live through all those gas fumes at the bp? An if you are not breaking the law you have no reason to worry about what bush the police sit behind. and it's gonna take puddin a little longer to get home now? how do you know what it will be like on Atlanta Rd with a Median, have we had one there before that made it difficult for you? So these things you are talking about, that you have no clue the effects. please research the facts and learn the reasons why it is being done. Everyone always yells I broke a nail.. oh yeah doing what? all I can think of is you bit it putting your hand to close to your mouth while it was running !

I live off of Atlanta Road and personally I am not looking forward to having a median there. And I'm really not looking forward to the construction time. But this is being done for safety reasons and I respect that. MK seems to think beautification and shade trees should come before safety. Well I completely disagree. I have teenagers driving on these roads and I want them as safe as possible. I applaud our city for putting safety first and making tough decisions. I appreciate all the volunteers that come out to assist in the beautification. Our city can only do so much. Citizens need to pitch in. Only through positive and productive effort can we all make this city a better place to live.

We all agree that medians are a pain, but the safety provided by them is worth it. People get in the center turn lane on Atlanta road and travel for over a mile, causing the residents coming out of side streets to put their lives in danger. Nothing like princess hauling butt in her BMW up the center turn lane during rush hour so she can get to her yoga class. They put up orange pylons to keep this from happening and they have all been knocked down by these same idiots. Hopefully they knocked the front bumpers off of their precious little sports cars when they hit them.

So I see they started digging up the sidewalk by the BP station...anyone know when the completion date is?

Mike, what you're seeing is the beginnings of the multi-use trail on Atlanta Road. It received a lot of funding from federal grants and is tentatively scheduled to be completed by the beginning of the new year. Once it is completed, work on the
Atlanta Road Median Project will begin. We're hoping to run an update on Smyrna road projects this week at Patch. Thanks.

Thanks for your concern , Pepper. i would love to move , but Smyrna Heights is being way undervalued right now. Unfortunately, young folks looking for good neighborhoods aren't enthused w/ the surrounding conditions, & lack of resturants , beauty, businesses & entertainment.
I would share w/ you or anyone else , at any time, the SPLOST check register, program manager information, info on the importance of 'neighborhood' elementary schools, harmful effects of poor zoning & mega gas stations in the wrong place, etc. Please , if you are interested in understanding what other cities are doing to be such inviting & business friendly environments, & why Smyrna seems to be deflecting good businesses,.. I'll sit down w/ you anytime.
Also, to see some really nice streetscaping I urge you to check out the city of Norcross & Woodstock. Good design takes vision & EFFORT.
Thanks again.

I am grateful to to the City of Smyrna for making these improvements despite a dire economy. Side-walks, bike paths, median, all make the Jonquil City safer and more beautiful.

Well our taxes did pay for it :D The sidewalks are looking great, ready for the orange cones to be gone! The bridge will be done soon and the new Kroger opens!

Smyrna FTW!

The median thats being put on Atlanta rd. Is got to be the stupidest thing ive ever seen. If they would use that money on roads that really need repare like old concord rd. The big hump next to Must ministrys that would be great. They seriouslly need to get some inmates out at that road and clean it up. Possibly get rid of some of the prositutes and drug dealers that would be awsome. But I guess the middle and lower class dont matter right?

Mary, Donna, and a few other agitatiors rarely make coherent arguments. They are not happy about anything unless they are unhappy about something. Their exsistence seems to revolve around finding fault with government officials and citizens, yet they fail to realize that many times (most times) it is they that are off base. What a sad exsistence.
"MARY...NORCROSS IS CALLING...COME BACK...WE MISS YOU!"
OR, get involved, really involved. Volunteer at a school, join a civic club, join a church, & become a positive force. Many Smyrna citizens do and the rewards are heart warming, eye-opening, and rewarding. There is no future in the direction you travel.
John

Hi. How does everybody feel about what they have done to Atlanta Road right around the Concord/Spring Road area? Traffic was screwed up for awhile (I nearly got hit a few times turning onto Atlanta Road from Church Street), but since I don't drive it every day, I'm just wondering how everybody likes it or whatever.

Sean Murphy (E.G. Gnome) - they're gone. Buh, bye. I'm sorry you can't admit that there are people in Smyrna who don't agree with your belief that everything is coming up roses in this city.

I suggest you channel your energy into working on getting the mayor and council to deal with the serious problems we have in Smyrna instead of chasing your tail.

It's interesting that Sean Murphy (E.G. Gnome) makes that ridiculous post under an article about one of Smyrna's boondogles. Medians that block the road and wide treeless sidewalks are what's at issue. (What is it with Smyrna and concrete? Which member of the city council has a relative in that business? And I'm not even going to get started on Croy Engineering.)

If you've got a problem with me Sean Murphy then make a comment and post it. I'm not going to take these kinds of backhanded statements from you. There's problems in this city and people will speak out about them. Deal with it. When did you become an employee of Smyrna or Patch. If you don't agree with comments made post your dissent. Don't make cowardly posts like the one above. It's not your job to patrol this site. You know I think it is your job to patrol this site. What's the city of Smyrna giving you for doing that? What payoffs have you gotten? Maybe it's about time you come clean.

Sean Murphy is at it again. Lately there's been all this talk about bullying. What no one mentions is that adults bully. When children engage in that behavior it's considered wrong but when adults engage in it it's ok. Sean Murphy is a bully. His behavior is not acceptable. What amazes me is that he is a father. What an example he's setting for his kids. And he sets himself up as a model citizen of his neighborhood and city. Making excuses for the behavior of Smyrna's leaders doesn't make one a model citizen.

Memo to Sean Murphy - Read The Constitution of the United States of America, Amendment I.

The martyrdom & victimhood never stops w/the Statler & Waldorf crowd. "We're being bullied, & persecuted, & our free speech is being trampled!" You keep feigning outrage over the same tired, imaginary "injustices" hoping that people who are new to the site will believe you (b/c people who have been around long enough know that what he's said above is true). I can only imagine the group flagging & calls for banning users are going to start up again. Sigh...*SMH*.

Sean Murphy ~
Will the sidewalks be 'treeless' in the future?
Will the city care about it's citizens and neighborhoods in the future?
Will the schools be quality schools in the future?
Will the city discover single stream recycling in the future?
Will quality development come to Smyrna in the future?
Will Smyrna's citizens wake up in the future?
Will there be 80 year old oak trees once again in Smyrna?
The problem is we live here now.

Concerning tort law, Andrew. This is the internet. Try building a court case on comments posted to a web site. Anyway, slander applies to the spoken word; libel is applied to the written word; and, both have to be false.

Sean Murphy, if more people spoke out like Freya Stark maybe Smyrna's leadership would deal with the problems in this city. Instead they use people like you to cause distractions from the serious issues

You present yourself as a smart man. You then, of all people. should know that once you attack a person and not the argument you've lost.

Sean, you never told me who I was.

Hey guys, we've gotten way off topic here so I'm closing this thread to comments for the time being. Also this story was first posted on the site more than a year ago and we've since posted updates. If you have something to say about the Atlanta Road Median Project feel free to leave comments in this story that includes more relevant information: http://smyrna.patch.com/articles/poll-what-are-your-thoughts-on-the-atlanta-road-medians

Thanks!
Sydney Busby