Instead of a bridge over troubled waters, Johns Creek has a troubled bridge over water. According to City Hall, the Parsons Road Bridge Replacement is a GDOT project. GDOT designed the bridge, funded the project (theoretically saving the city over $1,500,000), and is overseeing the construction. GDOT is responsible for paying for any extra costs. The City of Johns Creek doesn't have any management control of the project.
Well GDOT is certainly accruing additional costs with all the problems that have plagued this project, which started in January 2015. We visited the site a month later in February and the bridge was still intact, with workers removing a 'Discovered Gas Line'.
As the temporary detour stretched on for months, many additional problems have delayed the project such as utilities, weather delays, construction mistakes, and engineering issues.
The concept of saving the City over $1.5 million needs to be debated. Time is money, and the residents forced to take lengthy detours have paid the price. Many hours of driving around the closed bridge have inconvenienced drivers having to readjust their commute.
Local businesses suffer from a lack of customers. Residents hunker down during dinnertime to avoid the congestion and patronizing our Restaurants is difficult. Is this really a savings?
The City of Johns Creek has a reserve of approximately $57million. What about funding these high priority construction projects ourselves, so the City can control the timeline, select the best contractor, provide incentives for finishing before the deadline and get the job done correctly in a timely manner.
Ten months to construct a 2 lane, 150 foot of new bridge for Parsons Rd?
The original Bay Bridge in California was completed in 3 years. The ALCAN Highway was built in eight months. Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was built in less than 1 year. Something is wrong here.
The following images were taken yesterday, Oct 19th.
12 pm: Concrete cutter, slicing the new road.
Uneven road?
The stacked stone wall along the sidewalks looks nice.
Rebar. Hmm, what is that for? Does the bridge need more reinforcement?
Sources: City of Johns Creek & David Rosati
Didn't Steve Broadbent announce at the JCHS forum that this project was complete and ready for travel last week?
Correct. Broadbent also wrote to another reader yesterday that the bridge wouldn't open in time (this week) because of vandalism. That is why we went down there and took pictures. Vandalism was not evident, but construction mishaps seem to be with the road being cut up...
Where is your journalistic integrity? You don't have any comments or factual information from GDOT, but your article clearly expresses opinion with out factual merit. Worse, the article is written from a contemptuous perspective. If the Johns Creek Post wants to be taken seriously, they need to clean up their journalistic standards.
The information about GDOT is what the City has stated repeatedly about this project.
The project has been plagued with problems, that is a fact.
I thought the author provided accurate information. Expressed the frustration of the people impacted. The author compared other construction projects universally to put this project in perspective. This author took the time to point out the excuses of the local government. This author is actually showing more journalistic accuracy than many in the newspaper industry, because the tilt is to isolate the scenario and point out the flaws. Is it possible that you hide because you work for johns creek?
I think the author has been very honest and capturing the frustration of the constituents in this project. The author has supplied, in contrast, other engineering developments, to show a comparison of community projects. This puts our project in perspective. She has taken the time to isolate and voice an opinion. The author is entitled to do so and put notice to the government of johns creek. That is journalism. It is a voice. Journalism should not be a cheerleader, but a voice of reason when impropriety occurs.
What a negative article. Did you speak with anyone to give us any information on an updated targeted completion date?
What is there to ask GDOT about at this point? We don't want to interrupt their work on the bridge and it will be finished when its finished. The City is maintaining its current deadline of Oct 30th.
Coward
@ Anonymous,
We heard from a City Council Member who announced it would be open today, October 20th, 2015.
If we had a full complement of council members, then we might have had the proper oversight of this project from the beginning; People asking questions at the first sign trouble.
Instead we have had a Council that accepts reasons this happens or that happens as fact. How many Council Members have driven to Parsons Road and had a look recently?
How many will even bother to head down there today to have a look.
The excuse of "it's the GDOT" is wearing mighty thin around here. They seem to get a lot done outside of Johns Creek.
What's the issue here?
Leadership and oversight comes to mind.
@Editor and Road Warrior - some people (anonymous) cannot accept the simple truth, and instead seem to search out opportunities for confrontation, and bullying. Thank you for your comments. Well said!
I know this Editor does make statements that have not been researched.
This has been the S L O W E S T project. All of Johns Creek is impacted. Is it really only 150 feet?
I love how we post things and hide by being anonymous. This venture has been a mess. I took the pictures. Pictures don't lie. I live off of parsons road. The inconvenience is insurmountable. It would not be so bad if it were given complete information. We have not. Are we angry. Yes, we are!!! The cost overruns, from what I understand are going to be the responsibility of the residents of johns creek. I may be wrong. But I have the audacity to print my name. The double talk that johns creek has given its residents is inexcusable. I have them all, just to myself because I have been militant in my posts. It is a two lane bridge, not an engineering feat !!! I am tired of this delay. And for mr or mrs anonymous, you are a coward
@David. I echo your comment. Bravo!
ALL of the projects this city takes on take WAY TOO LONG TO COMPLETE. Period!!!
GDOT had an open house for the public to comment on the project and detours when the project was approved. The information provided then detailed the length of the detours (about 3 miles) and the expected time for the project (9-12 months). If you have issue with either of those items, those opinions should have been expressed to GDOT before the project began. Complaining about them now is not productive, unless you are also sharing your concerns directly with the manager of the project. Delays are to be expected in any construction project, but it is not "behind" as the target completion date is still 10 days away.
I should note that this particular project does not affect me since I live off Jones Bridge. However, I am impacted by the Old Alabama/Medlock Bridge project. I leave for work 3 minutes earlier to detour around that project. Yes, it is taking more of my valuable time, but in the long run, my commute will be improved. It is the price we pay for living in an area that is still developing. I'd rather live in a city where infrastructure improvements are being made. We could be much worse off.
@Kate - Obviously your are not paying attention. I think people are complaining about the entire traffic quagmire all throughout Johns Creek. People are just disgusted and frustration overall, and perhaps venting here.
If you only had to add 3 mins to your commute, good for you. Most of the rest of us are not so lucky. I spend at least triple the time it took me to go travel to work 3-5 years ago. It takes me 45 minutes to travel 13 miles, and that is just before or just after commute hour. If I am late and end up in the commute window my 13 miles takes 1-1/2 hours most days.
There are so many things that could have been done better- BEFORE we got into this mess we now find ourselves.
Putting in proper infrastructure should take place BEFORE the over development was permitted.
Turn lanes and timed traffic lights should have taken priority over sidewalks (going nowhere really) on both side of street used by only a handful of citizens. These same sidewalks will eventually have to be replaced by turn lanes. Stupid waste of money.
JC officials should plan ahead, but it is clear they do not. They are in way over the heads.
If I did my job the way these folks have (over the past 5 years) I would not have a job.
I'm a new-ish resident in Johns Creek, living near the bridge itself. I was looking out the window of my new (new to me) home and saw a car buzz by at 90? miles an hour. This driver was blew by my entire field of vision in less than 1 second. Frankly Parsons as a cut through is definitely convenient. But is going around on Abbott's Bridge really that big of a deal? I do that now when I need to be on 141 or wherever the lack of bridge forces me to detour. I don't find it *that* big of an inconvenience and I'm *right there*.
Maybe we should leave it closed (turned into a park area). As a father of school kids in the area, do we really want to risk having the 'kid hit by the reckless driver' conversation?
@JG - Fasten your seat belt. You are in for quite a ride.
I made a comment on Oct 30th (above) of which I wish to clarify further.
I left out a very important word in that post, thus said the opposite of what I intended to say.
In error I wrote; "I know this Editor does make statements that have not been researched." << my error
What I meant to say was, I know this Editor does NOT make statements or pass along information that has not been researched. The Editor is one of the most well-informed JC citizens I know.
Editor, please accept my sincere apology.