Roswell residents questioned the need for a new budget increase on the Oxbo Road project Monday, and said they’re fed up with delays in completing the roadwork.
Roswell City Council approved an updated project plan during a Monday meeting, which included a new $2.7 million payment to contractor E.R. Snell. That brought the already overbudget project to $18.4 million, a 163% increase from the original estimated project cost of $7 million in 2016.
The Oxbo realignment is a transportation special purpose local option sales tax project approved by voters that year.
Before council members voted, six residents who live near Oxbo Road complained during public comment about the look of the torn road and said they doubt the project, when complete, will improve safety.
“Right now, we are still living in a war zone,” resident Denise Hannahan said of how the road appears now. “I think this whole project needs to be readdressed … Because the way it stands now, it’s not what the people want. It’s just a travesty.”
Roswell is realigning Oxbo Road off Atlanta Street (Ga. 9) as well as nearby roads. The roadwork includes aligning Oxbo Road and Oxbo Drive as they cross Atlanta Street.
Prior to the start of construction in January 2020, the intersection was considered dangerous by Roswell and Georgia Department of Transportation officials. Major roadwork on the project stopped in early 2021 and is scheduled to restart by early May.
Residents at the meeting said they believe a new traffic signal at the intersection will be sufficient and new road changes will only draw heavy traffic from East Cobb and Ga. 400 to the neighborhood of Oxbo Road and Mimosa Boulevard, a quaint part of Historic Roswell.
“Mimosa Boulevard is our historic main street,” said resident George Vail, who made a presentation on why the city project won’t work.
Roswell plans to have traffic calming measures in place to help slow traffic.
Jason Yowell, a frequent critic of city officials, said he predicts plans to allow left turns at the realigned intersection will increase accidents.
“It’s a terrible place for an intersection,” Yowell said. “It doesn’t improve anything.”
Interim Public Works Director Dan Skalsky said that simply placing a traffic signal at Oxbo Road and Atlanta Street without aligning the roads would not create a safe intersection and he is certain the Georgia Department of Transportation wouldn’t allow it.
Skalsky took over the project last fall following an independent investigation found mismanagement, and the subsequent resignation of the previous public works director, Muhammad Rauf.
Residents at Monday’s meeting suggested the project be redesigned but Skalsky said that option would only cause more delays. Oxbo Road is currently slated to be complete by October 2023.
The director said the $2.7 million in additional funds to E.R. Snell is expected to be the last budget increase on the project.
“(It includes) everything required to complete the project,” Skalsky told City Council. “One of the things we tried to address is make sure that we have all of the problems addressed and a path forward that we’re confident in.”
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