reporternewspapers.net
FEBRUARY 2019 • VOL. 11 — NO. 2
Brookhaven Reporter
Perimeter Business
Mall parking lots become prime real estate
SPECIAL AD SECTION ■ PAGES 24-26
PAGES 5-9
Bus transit would work on I-285, consultants predict
COMMUNITY
City seeks traffic fix on N. Druid Hills P4 ROBIN’S NEST
Dad jokes? They just don’t age well P15 AROUND TOWN
BY EVELYN ANDREWS
From Y soccer fields to the World Cup P16
Reporter Extra Podcast & Live Stream
evelyn@reporternewspapers.net
Buses similar to this one in Nevada are being recommended for use in bus rapid transit system on I-285.
SPECIAL
HEAR OUR PODCASTS Interviews with newsmakers and community news updates IN FEBRUARY ► Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst ► Buckhead Coalition President Sam Massell
COMING SOON
City sells $38.8M in bonds for park upgrades BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
► Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul ► Dunwoody Mayor Denis Shortal Go to ReporterNewspapers.net or ‘like’ our Facebook Page for our next podcasts
The city on Jan. 22 sold $38,855,000 in bonds to fund parks upgrades – a bit less than the $40 million maximum approved by voters last year. And a citizens oversight committee was named the same day to review the spending on new and improved green space, including what improvements
are made and when. Securing the money “really kicks off the program, and we’ll be tearing down the road the next few years getting parks built,” Assistant City Manager Steve Chapman told the City Council. City officials said a favorable overall interest rate of 3.41 percent allowed them to Continued on page 17
A new bus system running along the planned I-285 toll lanes is the most feasible solution to provide east and west connectivity in the area, transportation consultants working with several cities along the interstate said in a report at the Sandy Springs City Council Jan. 22 retreat. The study was the result of meetings initiated in 2017 by Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst with other top end mayors from Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Chamblee, Doraville, Smyrna and Tucker as well as Perimeter Community Improvement Districts and the Cumberland Community Improvement Districts, which all helped fund it. The effort looks at how to incorporate transit in the Georgia Department of Transportation’s toll lanes project and provide transit running east and west. A bus rapid transit system is already in the works on the Ga. 400 piece of the toll lanes project after receiving $100 million in funding from former Gov. Nathan Deal in 2018. In a separate presentation by MARTA at the retreat, the transit agency said it expects to modify the North Springs MARTA Station to add a bus rapid transit platform either at-grade or elevated. At-grade would be estimated to cost $90 million and elevated $125 million. The consultants on the I-285 transit study haven’t fully finished their work, but See BUS on page 19
POSTAL CUSTOMER
PRSRT STD ECRWSS US Postage PAID Monroe, GA Permit #15