Another accident at Chamblee Dunwoody & Spalding - looking forward to the upcoming improvements.

Too many accidents occur at this intersection and the City of Dunwoody will be putting up a light and improving the safety of the intersection.  We are currently in the final design phase and will need to purchase some right of way for Option A and it should be constructed in 2016.

Public Works

Chamblee Dunwoody Road at Spalding Drive

The intersection of Chamblee-Dunwoody Road and Spalding Drive is a vital gateway into the City of Dunwoody. The intersection is a major decision point for regional commuter traffic from and into residential and commercial areas within Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. Additionally, this corridor provides connectivity for reverse-commuting Dunwoody residents to the GA 400 corridor.

The primary objective of the proposed intersection improvement project is to address safety concerns. Undesirable intersection geometry is the root cause of the safety problems at the intersection. Primary southbound commuting traffic cannot see oncoming traffic from along eastbound Spalding Drive for a sufficient distance to make safe turning and gap decisions. The lack of visibility is due to a combination of vertical and horizontal curves in Spalding Drive. The severe skew of the intersection further limits visibility along the approaches. Given the intersection alignment, a high number of angle crashes occur, which supports the need for a safety improvement at this intersection.

Efficient and safe traffic operations are fundamental project objectives and essential to the success of the project. Strong commuter time of day traffic patterns and intersection geometry both dictate traffic operations at the intersection. Access to and from the side street neighborhoods must be maintained while also accommodating the regional traffic that moves through the intersection. Careful, detailed analysis will be performed to quantify potential benefits of several design alternatives and provide a basis for cost/benefit comparisons between those alternatives.

Additionally, the City of Dunwoody places emphasis on pedestrian and bicycle safety and connectivity. That goal is embodied in the City of Dunwoody’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan and has been included in every capital improvement project. Pedestrian safety is the other major safety challenge in the project area. The intersection lacks signalized pedestrian facilities, with no pedestrian signals or push buttons at any crossing.

Current Project Phase – Final Design
After presentation of three options at a public meeting, followed by direction from the City Council, staff is working with the project consultant to complete the design work for a modified version of the Option A presented at the public meeting. The resultant intersection improvements will improve the safety for vehicles and pedestrians, traffic operations, and way-finding improvements.  Additionally, this improvement will respect and maintain the character of the surrounding existing neighborhoods and minimize impacts to property owners.

The planned intersection improvement will add left turn lanes on the Chamblee Dunwoody and Spalding legs of the intersection.  Pedestrian enhancements would include bike lanes and sidewalks would be added along Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Spalding Road as well as signalized pedestrian crossings.  The planned intersection improvements construction zone will be entirely within the City of Dunwoody municipal limits. The construction will likely cost around $1M and will be locally funded.

Next Project Phase – Right-of-Way
The next phase in the project is acquisition of easements and right-of-way necessary to complete the intersection improvements. The city anticipates acquiring any needed right-of-way in 2015 with construction anticipated for 2016.