ALPHARETTA, Ga. — With new mixed-use developments and major transportation projects underway, Mayor Jim Gilvin painted a bright future for Alpharetta at the State of the City Address Feb. 1.
The annual keynote is an opportunity for the mayor to reflect on the city’s past and provide direction on its course for the coming year. Now in its 13th year, the address is hosted by the Alpharetta Business Association. The 2024 event was held at 8 a.m. at The Hotel at Avalon.
Gilvin’s speech centered around Alpharetta’s success in infrastructure, parks and recreation, public safety and economic development.
In the next five years, Gilvin said Alpharetta residents will see the completion of the Ga. 9 widening, the Dryden Road extension and a new bridge on Waters Road.
Projects planned for construction through 2029 include the Webb Bridge Road/Ga. 400 overpass replacement and the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Ga. 400 express lanes.
Plans also include the ongoing the widening of McGinnis Ferry Road, a major east-west corridor that includes funding from Forsyth County, Alpharetta, Johns Creek and GDOT. Construction hit a snag in 2023 when bids for the project came in at $79.4 million, more than $10 million above the last estimated cost.
In December, the Forsyth County Commission, which is overseeing the project, approved a redesign to split the widening into two phases: one from Douglas Road to Sargent Road in Johns Creek, and another from Douglas back to the Union Hill Road and Ronald Reagan Boulevard intersection in Forsyth County.
“We’ve been working on that for years,” Gilvin said. “We think we’re pretty close to having all the right-of-way. The bids came in a little higher than all of us anticipated, and so we’re working on that funding. Hopefully Gov. Kemp and the $1.5 billion they’re committing will help get that…
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