Roundabout for Barnwell rd? Within the Work, Session documents are the Barnwell Corridor Concepts. Below is the proposed Roundabout with a massive retaining wall.
Is a Roundabout the best option on this arterial road? Slow down ALL 10,000 cars for a few hundred?
Proposed Roundabout. The thick Gray area is the massive retaining walls.
Here is the other multimillion-dollar concepts & agenda memo. The last and cheaper concept closes off Niblick and pushes the cars (by creating a road through backyards) over to Olde Club Way, which is described by staff as having "Substandard Sight Distance" for entering Barwell Rd. Unfortunately, staff did not draw up concepts to improve Olde Club Way's sight issues with Barnwell Rd in this plan.
The Red Lined area is the proposed private land to be taken and converted into a public road.
What isn't proposed and should be considered for both Niblick & Old Club Way is a light that will flash to indicate a car on Barnwell Rd is approaching, and it is not yet safe to pull out.
The crash data in the agenda report is not specific for the Niblick intersection and putting a traffic circle there may not change any accidents at Holcomb bridge and Barnwell.
It seems Johns Creek does there Public Works planning differently.
From the DOT Roundabout Planning Manual, there are specific stages for projects such as a roundabout( and other intersections). Public input may be useful at various stages in the planning process:
Johns Creek's Approach
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We need to insist on the normal process rather and not be the exception.
What do you think of the current process? and Roundabout for Barnwell rd?
Source: City of Johns Creek
Perhaps, Liz Hausmann can text message Steve Broadbent and let him know Olde Club Way need road improvements. That's how this roundabout got going....even though we don't want it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFAQ4lQp5cc
Why do we want to screw up Barnwell Rd for just a few people out of Niblick, is it really justified? Who is the real interested party in this? Who benefits? Who's making the real push for this non-sense? Let's find this out before making any plans, yes?
Liz Hausmann will benefit. She is pushing for this.
The residents on Niblick can access Olde Club Way right now. The city cleared many of the trees that were hampering sight last week. A little more clearing of some overgrown landscaping and MAYBE some minor removal of the hillside with a longer deceleration lane to increase visibility, along with the flashing warning sign, and this should be resolved. Please don't mess up one of the best driving and prettiest roads in Johns Creek.
Quite suddenly, an item has popped up on the City Council Work Session for Monday night (Feb 22nd) at 5pm to discuss options for Barnwell/Niblick Drive. Here are options and costs being proposed: To say they are outrageously expensive and beyond comprehension is an understatement.
http://johnscreekga.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php…
As this minuscule intersection has so few cars exiting/entering Barnwell Road (Johns Creek's own survey report says volume is less than 4%--WELL below justifiable volumes to require a roundabout) costing (at that time) $510,000! That's right--JUST for ONE mini-roundabout at low volume Niblick Drive, Johns Creek is considering spending over half a million of your tax dollars!
Here are drawings of the proposed mini-roundabout and options:
http://johnscreekga.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php…
And the results will be the same as Sargent Road--slowdowns, congestion, backups (both directions) disrupting thousands of commuters all to service the small neighborhood off Niblick Drive.
As was left in City Council chambers when last discussed, the head of the Public Works Dept. was charged by Mayor Mike Bodker and City Council to broadly advertise and hold new public input meetings with effected and interested residents to get FRESH input for the plan. This blog has not been notified of any such scheduled meeting(s).
All this anxiety appears to be an attempt to address ONE connected elected official's concerns for Niblick Drive. NO ONE other than this one public official has come from the neighborhood to testify in favor of this roundabout.
Remember, this intersection currently has flashing light signs with a 30 mph reduced speed. Also, the city has already cleared the right-of-way of trees, shrubbery, and neglected debris in order to improve the line-of-sight issues that have suddenly become a crisis, but have existed for decades.
The neighborhood has done NOTHING to improve their own situation other than complain that Johns Creek taxpayers should pony up $510,000+ to fix their low volume neighborhood intersection.
'Friend" the Facebook "Barnwell Road Coalition"
https://www.facebook.com/BarnwellRoadCoalition/?fref=ts
I can't believe all the money being wasted just to benefit Liz Hausmann, unbelievable!
Public projects have always been pet projects by city/county/state officials. They all love to spend money to show they are doing some thing for the community and in turn they should be reelected. Most projects benefit just a few...usually the government official and his/her pet contractor. Johns Creek is becoming the new DeKalb County with regard to cronyism.
There must be a more dangerous intersection than this one that services more vehicles. So how did this intersection move to the top of the list? What is the return on investment?
I have stood at the intersection and walked the lines of site with another person. The plantings at the entrance to the community should be trimmed down to provide a better line of site, and the trees along the western side of Barnwell could be trimmed back to create a better line of sight.
Also, technology such as the Vehicle approaching when flashing light makes much more sense, and is far less expensive.
If the Federal Government was not funding this, would this still be a solution that Johns Creek would recommend? I think not. An if we would not do it with our own money, why would we do so with our own Federal dollars? In the end we are still paying for all of this.
A round a bout - are you kidding me. They need to focus more on the congestion at Holcomb Bridge and Barnwell and the morons who make the illegal left turn to Kroger Shopping Center from Barnwell.
Ditto, ditto, ditto! Many times I have narrowly missed being hit by an illegal left turner into the Kroger shopping center from Barnwell who was turning into the EXIT lane I was waiting in! Are you listening council?
By my observation, the overwhelming majority of commuters being slowed down on Sargent are Gwinnett & Forsyth County drivers. I'm not too concerned about it making their commute more unpleasant. I'm more concerned about impact, quality of life and safety for JC residents.
At yesterday's work session, Councilmember Endres asked Tom Black about using the flashing sign that warns when cars are approaching. His response was that drivers become dependent on those and then disaster can strike if the power goes out and they fail to alert. That is a reasonable concern. However, why then can't the curved mirror discs also be used which require no power?
The flashing sign that alerts drivers exiting Rogers Circle at Bell Road near Rogers Bridge works well to help keep drivers from turning into oncoming traffic and SOLAR powered versions of said lights will not be a cause for concern in a power outage. The one at Rogers Circle and Bell may indeed be a solar powered device. I agree that the process used for selecting the most effective and economical solution to traffic woes in Johns Creek does not seem to follow standard protocol in many cases.
Newer warning lights about oncoming traffic also have a backup system that warns drivers if it has malfunctioned. I do not believe that is a reason that this idea should be dismissed.
Politicians and public works officials like to make safety a big issue to manipulate people. There is no safety issue at this intersection. The safety issue is at the intersection of Barnwell and Holcomb Bridge Road and they've put off fixing it for years to add this roundabout on Barnwell.
Where is the role of law enforcement with these issues? It seems we are having to spend millions of dollars because a minority of drivers refuse to follow very simple laws. Recently I saw a driver change lanes in the center of 141 and State Bridge, in front of a JCPD SUV. Then the same driver changed lanes again without signalling. The JCPD did nothing.
I have been told that officers do not want to be bothered with such petty issues, especially when raining. If that is true, we have a big problem. Because we cannot afford to idiot proof every intersection because of poor drivers who are not afraid to do whatever they want whenever they want.
Apparently the COJC cannot ask the Police Department to actually enforce the laws. Is this true? If so, why?
Enforce the speed limits on Barnwell Road. The word will spread. Drivers will slow down.
Or we can spend millions of dollars to address the few who refuse to slow.
The choice is someone's to make. I am just not sure where the buck stops anymore. Everyone points at everyone else.
The truth is there aren't that many speeders, so you can't justify putting a cop there all day. Also, if the drivers see a cop car, they won't speed.
I totally agree that Barnwell is one of the most beautiful roads in our city, and one of the reasons I chose to live in the area. I hope that the city finds a way to maintain the character and improve the safety issues that have been identified. A process that was started well before I moved to River Ridge. In fact, probably no one at the city even knew I had moved there! For the record, I am not advocating for a roundabout at Niblick and Barnwell, just a solution to allow safe entry and exit from the neighborhood. There is no doubt a site issue turning in either direction from Niblick onto Barnwell, and tailgaters that don't slow down when turning right into the subdivision from Barnwell. Both need to be addressed in some manner to allow safe access in and out of the subdivision. For all of the area residents. I just happen to be one of them! Liz Hausmann