Another year of construction on $55 million Windy Hill road project likely

Jul. 8—SMYRNA — A $55 million project funded jointly by Smyrna and Cobb County has a planned completion date of less than a year from now. That schedule, it appears, is subject to change.

Construction of the Windy Hill Boulevard project, which is intended to reduce traffic congestion on Windy Hill Road between South Cobb Drive and Atlanta Road, began in February of 2020. More than two years later, construction continues, and it could go beyond what Smyrna officials anticipated to be a May 2023 end date.

The project will modify roughly a mile of Windy Hill Road with a boulevard concept that "separates local and commuter traffic to increase mobility and safety," according to Croy Engineering's webpage about the project.

The current five-lane roadway is being reconstructed into six total lanes: two express lanes and one frontage road in each direction. The frontage roads will be grade-separated, or elevated above the sides of the express lanes to allow access to local businesses and houses. Two bridges will also be constructed across the roadway to let drivers and pedestrians safely cross the boulevard.

Smyrna Ward 6 Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Tim Gould identified a couple of reasons why he thinks the changes to Windy Hill Road are important.

"The two main goals, in my mind, for the project are improving safety, pedestrian and traffic, and then improving mobility," Gould said.

Gould noted that the project strikes a balance between the needs of Smyrna locals and commuters who use Windy Hill Road to access nearby Interstate 75.

"What we see is, in the end, there will be a wonderful combination of both a local street and a major artery for regional traffic to get to I-75," Gould said. "So we'll be able to regain the neighborhood feel, so to speak — access to local businesses, greatly improved pedestrian safety, improved access to Campbell High School, and allow that part of our community to thrive — still while supporting the role of that road of getting folks over to 75."

Smyrna City Administrator Joe Bennett told the MDJ that he expects the paving contract with Marietta-based Baldwin Paving Company, initially arranged to end in May of 2023, to be extended.

"It will be past May '23, but we don't have an exact completion date right now," Bennett said.

Bennett said that difficulties with utility providers, a result of both COVID-related delays and those caused by tropical storms during the construction period, are the reason completion by May 2023 looks unlikely. Despite the potential for delay, the city says that progress is still being made.

"Having reached a major milestone, the phase of construction that we are in is installation of the substructure for the bridges and retaining walls as well as removal of soil from the median where the express lanes will be constructed," said Smyrna spokesperson Jennifer Bennett.

Smyrna's original contract with Baldwin for the project's construction was $29.6 million from special purpose local option sales tax funding. That price tag jumped slightly to $30.2 million due to problems with materials.

In addition to the $30.2 million for construction, Smyrna paid $470,000 to Croy Engineering for the project's design.

While Smyrna is leading the project, Cobb County is also contributing through its SPLOST.

According to the county, its financial commitment to the project totals $25 million: $2 million from its 2011 SPLOST for the project design, and $23 million from its 2016 SPLOST for construction.

"Our involvement has been limited to providing a portion of the funding mostly," a county spokesperson wrote in an email to the MDJ.

According to Jennifer Bennett, all prices for the project, with the exception of asphalt, remain constant.

"These asphalt prices have increased due to higher cost of petroleum products in the marketplace," she said.

With the combined totals from Smyrna and the county, the Windy Hill Boulevard project costs roughly $55 million.

Alex Backry, a former candidate for Smyrna mayor, is an outspoken critic of the project and considers it a "scandal."

"I find this to be blatant socialism because we [Smyrna residents] didn't have a say," Backry said. "The reason I call this a scandal is there was no town hall or no referendum."

According to Croy Engineering, a 3-D video of the project was shown during public information open houses.

"The city did a lot of public information sessions where knowledgeable folks were there to talk about the project and describe the timeline and all the things the city was trying to achieve," Gould said. "I think they did a good job of visually providing tools so folks could understand what it was going to look like and where it would be. It's definitely a unique project in itself."

Gould told the MDJ he went to one of those sessions as a resident, where he said he got a good feel for the project and its goals.

Backry said he would have liked for the money spent on the project to go toward other costs the city faces.

"I just think this money should have been better spent on other projects in the city or been used to reduce the bond debt," Backry said.

Regarding the majority of feedback he has gotten from constituents, Gould returned to the project's timeline: "'When is it gonna be done?'"

But, Gould added, he thinks most people are in favor of the project for the safety improvements it is anticipated to bring.

"I think people are supportive, they know pedestrian safety, vehicular safety is such an important topic for us," Gould said, "and then again, if we can help folks who are just traveling through Smyrna do that efficiently, that's a win for everybody."