Campbell Road Bridge Open, Apartment Demolition Continues

Construction and demolition continues at a steady pace in Smyrna according to Scott Stokes, Smyrna’s public works director. Stokes outlined the progress of several of the city’s improvement projects at Monday’s Smyrna City Council meeting.

Smyrna residents were pleased to learn that Campbell Road Bridge was open for traffic Saturday afternoon, but there are still some components of the project that remain to be completed. The project is about 95 percent finished and there is still some landscaping that remains.

Citizens were notified of the opening on the city's Facebook page. Wade Lnenicka, Ward 6 city council member, alerted citizens to the opening in an email.

“I put that out in an email alert to Ward 6 residents and I had an unbelievable number of responses,” he said. “People are happy to get that bridge back up.”

The bridge was closed on Aug. 1 and with it a highly used traffic connection along Campbell Road between Atlanta and Spring Roads. Oakley Downs, The Park at Oakley Downs and surrounding neighborhoods have been affected by the project, which was approved in the 2005 SPLOST and has involved the replacement of the existing bridge over the CSX railroad.

Melleny Pritchett, Ward 1 city council member, said that once the landscaping is completed the city will schedule a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the bridge.

“We wanted to get this road open as quickly as we could so we will schedule it and it will be announced a couple of weeks in advance so everyone can be prepared for it,” Pritchett said.

In other news from public works, asbestos abatement continues at Smyrna Commons apartments on Ward Street. Two of the four buildings have been abated. Once this process is completed, demolition will begin, Stokes said.

The city of Smyrna purchased the 144-unit complex formerly known as Highland Apartments in 2008 for the purpose of changing the future use of the property and to obtain right-of-way for a road that is part of the Belmont Hills area redevelopment plan.

Last year the city sold 7.45 acres of the property located at 2525 Ward Street to the Cobb County School District. The purchase agreement was for $2.9 million, or $392,000 per acre. The property will be used as part of Smyrna’s new elementary school near the downtown area.

Across town Stokes said the Hickory Lakes demolition project is 84 percent complete. The buildings have been removed and now contractors are breaking up concrete footings and slabs, which are being crushed on site and hauled away.

Street paving continues throughout Smyrna, Stokes said. Highland Avenue, Marston Street, Argyle Drive and parts of Spring Road and Roswell Street were paved the week of Feb. 13. Stokes also indicated that some of the roads in Ward 3 that have been milled will be paved this week.

Construction will soon begin on the Spring Road pedestrian bridge. The contractor will be installing pilings and bridge abutments. The city will share the construction schedule with the public once the conrtactor creates it.

Also, video cleaning and inspection of the city’s sewers began last week. The contractor is working in Wards 2 and 3 this week. Annually the city cleans and inspects about 75,000 square feet of sewer lines.