Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Dunwoody City Council sets into motion Chamblee Dunwoody / Womack Road Intersection Improvement Plan

Last night the City Council was in a deep discussion regarding the work scheduled for Chamblee Dunwoody and Womack and a segment of the discussion centered around the Right Turn Red that will be allowed after all the improvements were made.  At the end of the meeting as we were departing, a resident who was watching from home, drove over to the meeting to ask me a question.  She said she heard lots about the allowance of right hand on red but what we really need is a dedicated left hand turn lane!  I calmed her fears, fully agreed with her and assured her that the whole reason for the project was to add that dedicated left hand turn lane.

This post is dedicated to her, a very diligent resident who regularly watches our City Council meetings online and was unsure of the scope of the Womack / Chamblee Dunwoody Project.  If she was unaware of what is planned for that intersection, I am guessing that are others who might like an update too.

 Chamblee Dunwoody/Womack Road Intersection Improvement Plan

Video

The Dunwoody City Council has made this intersection a priority whereby we earmarked 1.7 Million dollars in the 2022 Budget to reconstruct the Chamblee Dunwoody and Womack intersection, adding in a much needed Left Hand Turn Lane on West Bound Womack, improving sight lines on Chamblee Dunwoody which will allow right turn on red, as well as make numerous sidewalk and drainage improvements.  

This Monday night the City Council set into motion the right of way dedication and utility relocation needed for the project.  Our hope is that hard construction will take place over the summer months to reduce traffic impacts that regularly use the corridor. 

Right of Way Dedication for Chamblee Dunwoody Road at Womack Road Intersection Improvement

Full Construction Plans of Intersection

Currently, westbound drivers have only one lane on Womack Road approaching the intersection. This single lane serves the left, right, and through movement. As such a vehicle waiting to turn left must yield to oncoming traffic, thus causing a backup to other drivers. Similarly, if there is a queue of vehicles on Chamblee Dunwoody Road northbound, a vehicle cannot safely merge into the queue without blocking traffic.

This proposed layout adds a left turn lane along Womack Road to provide a safe location for vehicles turning left onto Chamblee Dunwoody Road. The proposed design also improves the sight distance of this right turn by re-grading the slope and reconfiguring the retaining wall at the AT&T building in the south east quadrant of this intersection.

Throughout the project limits, roadway drainage will be improved by adding a closed drainage network. This network travels down the west side of Chamblee Dunwoody Road to tie into the existing drainage network. As a result, the sidewalk along the west side of Chamblee Dunwoody Road will be upgraded to meet current ADA standards and will effectively match the recent sidewalk project on the east side.

1 comment:

Pattie said...

Thank you, John. Please also add protection to the bike lanes here as well as throughout Dunwoody. Most of them (including the new ones on Tilly Mill and Peeler) currently do not meet best-practices standards for safe-access-for-all and are dangerous by design.