Old Alabama Rd - Redo's and Modifications. The Construction crew at Old Alabama Rd must really like the view of Perimeter Church and the pond because they just don't seem to complete the job in a timely and thorough manner.
Just this Thursday, CW Matthews tore up the new asphalt they laid recently in the center of the road. The 20 foot wide raised median is being installed there.
Old Alabama Rd milled for median August 11th
Questions are raised as to why they did not pour the concrete for the median the same time as the curbs and gutter?
Laying asphalt only to remove it is redundant. Once the median is installed, they will come back and complete asphalt on the road. Then again, they did redo the curb and sidewalk twice.
Another question, why a median at all? Wouldn't the asphalt be more useful? Another lane for future widening or flex lane? In a recent report regarding emergency services feasibility...
"Numerous traffic control devices such, as curbed lane dividers, slow emergency response by requiring units to go to the next break before carrying out a u-turn toward an incident on the other side of the street."
According to the minutes of the initial concept team meeting, which City Staff attended, it was suggested to place the median for the AAC parcel in the event of future development.
The median cut is for future entrance into AAC, along with curb cuts for the undeveloped parcel. Deceleration and acceleration lanes are not included, so this configuration will impact the current traffic flow. The median will also limit the cars stacking in the turn lanes.
All this for a development that does not exist, yet? And what is this development they are providing infrastructure for?
-
Modifications
According to GDOT, they have approved an astounding $428k in modifications to the project since June 2016. Another $28k was recently requested for traffic control & guardrails. Why was this all not included in the original bid?
Penalties?
Additionally, GDOT has documented the recent milestone of "failure to open all travel lanes" & "fail to cover milled areas".
Shockingly, $0.00 Liquidated Damages were assessed to the contract as of 8/13/16.
Who's Responsible?
City Hall distances itself from this debacle and claims the project rests entirely with GDOT. Yet the pre-planning meeting for the design of this construction included 2 of Johns Creek's Public Works staff.
It's unfortunate they did not plan to improve the eastbound traffic onto 141, where the major congestion is.
The Old Alabama Rd Construction Plans are here...
How come Ch2m hill didn't catch this? I thought we're paying them a lot of money to oversee Public Works, which includes roads, bridges, and drainage, among other things. Roads and bridges, in most cases, requires coordination with GADOT. CH has also performed work directly for GADOT, so they should catch heat for this debacle. Sandy Springs got rid of them and is about to file suit against CH for alleged negligence in not meeting Federal and State funding/grant requirements. CW Mathews doesn't care, all they have to do is submit the lowest bid on another road project in Johns Creek and they're back in the game.
The road is not crowned properly so the water during a rain cannot go into the sewer until it builds up over an inch of water before it can drain into the sewer. Just look at the concrete work. It is an inch above the meeting with the road surface.
All of this for just one additional lane going west? Ridiculous. Why would they not use the median space for an additional left turn lane onto Medlock? Going east onto Medlock is where it backs up! Once its complete, and everyone truly see the results, there will be an uproar.
Big waste of time and money, They need to change the standard/law that they have to use lowest bid. Government waste as usual while Johns creek sits back and says oh well....
How do we make sure they do not get another job. In early 2017 Johns Creek is going to widen Medlock Bridge and we cannot go through this debacle again!
Is 141 scheduled to be widened in 2017? I sure hope so. It took me 27 minutes to go from Abbotts Bridge to States Bridge on 141 South at 7:30am this past Monday. Last I heard they were exploring Michigan U turns and now awaiting TSPLOST results. I fear if TSPLOST fails it will be another decade before minimal relief happens. I wish they could just raise gas taxes a full dollar a gallon and grade separate all major intersections on 141, add HOT lanes on all interstates and GA 400 and US 78 in Atlanta. I know, this is Georgia and we have a better chance of repealing the 2nd Amendment than getting our citizens to actually fund overdue infrastructure improvements. I sure hope you are right on the 141 widening in 2017.
Fear NOT. Feel free to write a personal check, Alli. You can afford it.
I've been told by the Johns Creek Traffic Department (I use that term loosely) that yes 141/Medlock will be widened in early 2017. But if they use the same company doing Old Alabama, we will have the same issues with worsening traffic!
That's because you're stuck behind all the kids driving themselves to high school.
How are TSPLOST funds mismanaged....it never passed in metro Atlanta, so there is no revenue from it. The regions in GA where it did pass in 2012 are not complaining, they are actually seeing infrastructure improvements. Which construction crew widened Jones Bridge between States Bridge and Abbotts Bridge? I was satisfied how quickly that got done. I agree that the OAR project is a disaster, but to hold badly needed improvements hostage over a non noticeable.75% doesn't make much sense either. We spend trillions rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan yet won't fund our own community.
Let Iraq and Afghanistan implement the TSPLOST.
Let us start taxing phony "non-profits" and their pro-BigGovernment "owners."
How are TSPLOST funds mismanaged?
First let’s take a look at the tier 1 and tier 2 lists. If you have been paying attention, most of these projects have been on the list of public works for many years with a price tag attached. Miraculously, with TSPLOST funding, these same projects price increased by approximately 40% overnight when they were added to these lists.
Second, at the Mayor’s Meeting that took place on July 7, 2016, a graph was presented that showed the TSPLOST breakdown by project type. On this graph it shows that only 36.2% of the funds raised for TSPLOST will go towards congestion relief/ roadway projects. Doing simple math, that tells me 63.8% of the funding is going to something other than congestion relief.
Third, if you look at the tier 1 and tier 2 projects, you will find most of these projects qualify for state and federal funding which means a majority of the TSPLOST funding will be used for the Tier 3 projects, most of which have nothing to do with traffic congestion relief and road projects. these are pet projects of cities that they could otherwise not justify spending general fund dollars on. Fourth, we as Johns Creek citizens will fund TSPLOST with our own personal spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $21 -27 million a year while our city only receives back roughly $16.5 million a year.
This tax raises more money per year from Johns Creek citizens than if the city just doubled our property taxes (and who would go along with that). Finally, and most importantly, the TSPLOST law requires an IGA to set how the TSPLOST dollars will be divided and allocated. This IGA has been written by an unelected body that has determined how the money will be distributed, who qualifies and more importantly establishes the stick that if a city did not participate in the IGA their citizens would still be taxed but not receive any of the tax revenue.
Do you really think this money will be handled appropriately or will it be wasted and mismanaged without providing the promises they have made on traffic improvement? I will be voting NO in November on TSPLOST!
My question is very simple, do these contractors purposely submit a bid that is very low knowing this will guarantee them being awarded the contract already knowing that once the job starts they will submit for change orders and up charges which makes up for the initial low bid. The contractors know exactly what it takes complete these jobs, they know exactly how many man hours are required to complete the job, and exactly how many days are required to complete the job. Unfortunately, it seems our city staff and GDOT do not understand these numbers or time schedules and defer to the contractors “expertise” on these matters. These contractors are laughing all the way to the bank at the incompetence of the government system that allows them to become rich on our tax dollars. Why is it that public works never seems to learn from its past mistakes whether it is how a job was put out for RFP or RFQ, not managing a proper time line for production, requiring a full work crew to be present on the job on all days that work can and should be completed, making sure that the plans are detailed and include all work that is required to complete the project, making sure that all rights the city has that are part of the contract are in place including charging penalties for not meeting a true production schedule with true benchmark dates. It seems to me this continues to keep happening whether it is on Old Alabama, Parsons Bridge, Jones Bridge, Bell and Boles Rd, or any other project that has been completed in the last several years. We in Johns Creek have a systemic problem that it appears the city either does not see or are not interested in fixing. In either case that is a major problem. Until these issues are fixed and these projects are managed effectively there is no way I will be voting for TSPLOST this November.
It's long past time to fire "apologist-in-chief" T. Black @ Public Works
I have the ultimate resolution to the issues that frustrate me in Johns Creek. I am moving......
Is our Public Works Director Tom Black the same guy that ran DeKalb County's Public Works Department for years? If so, then we all know that DeKalb evolved into a cesspool of corruption, incompetence, conflicts of interests, wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, kickbacks, pay to play schemes, indictments, and felony convictions. Also, didn't this government recently approve over $5 million for Ch2m hill to help manage our Public Works Department? All construction projects have an independent construction manager to oversee the construction contractor throughout the project to ensure that the project meets the design specifications and GADOT's requirements. Heavy disciplinary action is definitely in order. I'm also sick and tired of reading about our elected officials allowing our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to be wasted like this. It appears Johns Creek's government is heading down DeKalb County's path.
While we are all concerned about the waste of time, energy and money for the road improvements mentioned above, I urge you to keep in mind that we have very few trees and native forests left in Johns Creek. If you have any personal power or money that would buy up property to use for a park keeping the trees as they are,I encourage you to do so. This is one of those times I wish I was filthy rich. Let's save what few trees are left. Your children and grandchildren will thank you. Imagine all the native plants and animal species in a park that can be there for your progeny as time goes on. Please don't let Johns Creek become saved under like Atlanta downtown.
Momma Nature
Master Naturalist
You can get *filthy rich* too - just ask Ron Green, Mike Kenn, Mark Burkhalter and CROOKED Bodker.
This is what you do:
Buy a useless sewage treatment plant surrounded by worthless contaminated land that no one wants. Then have CORRUPT Bodker(who miserably failed at lobbying Fulton county to buy it) convince the simpletons on the city council that it is pristine property that must be bought right away(or else..) for a whopping $ 20.3 million.
There's more... On top of it the ignoramuses on the city council will agree to further give you half the proceeds if Johns Creek sells the plant over the next five years.
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/54-million-decision-fulton-wont-buy-johns-creek-tr/npbJF/
See. You can laugh your way to the bank too - ripping taxpayers - Republican style!
Ron Green tried to sell that useless Cauley treatment plant land to Forsyth County as well and they smelled a rat...Someone should check Ron Green's background...He may have been convicted of something in the past and he may have had to wear an ankle bracelet to satisfy his conditions...Johns Creek is heading down the same path as DeKalb County....Fulton County has plenty of capacity to properly treat our wastewater...