Hey y’all, we screwed up pretty bad. We got some details wrong and thus put out a misleading piece. Thank you to u/mountainlaurel536 for pointing this out. We’ve edited yesterday’s article to clear up the air by crossing through what we got wrong, leaving our dirty laundry out to hang, and putting any new or redone portions of the article in bold. We know it looks messy and difficult to read but we’d rather it be messy than faulty. We severely apologize for any confusion we may have caused and promise to do better in the future. We do aim to question, to poke and prod at the actions of M&C but we do not under any circumstance aim to lie. Below is a list of the details we mixed up and how we got them wrong:
1) We mixed up Coleman and Pine Grove road. This was because both roads are connected by Hightower road, which is the road that was referenced in the meeting when clarifying the position of the gap. Additionally, this is a bend in the road where Hightower meets both Coleman road and Pine Grove road, and the bend was again referenced in the meeting as to the location of the gap, specifically for the purpose of potentially adding a HAWK signal and other speed-reducing measures for pedestrian safety.
2) As a result of Error No. 1, we mistakenly assumed the move may have been motivated councilmember Christine Hall and her board position on her HOA. This may not be the case as the vote was to acquire right-of-way off of Coleman road and not Pine Grove road, the latter of which is home to Hall’s neighborhood.
3) The Sidewalk Matrix, referenced as such in the meeting, does rate roads based in importance but does not used a tiering system. It instead uses a numbered ranking system, with higher numbers meaning higher priority. An example is provided in the article.
On Tuesday, November 14th, Roswell’s Mayor and Council voted to acquire the necessary right-of-way to fill in a 650 ft. sidewalk gap on Pine Grove Road Coleman Road. It was explained that once the right-of-way was acquired, work to build the sidewalk itself would be done in-house by the RDOT. With only one councilmember (Sarah Beeson) questioning the need for the project, the vote passed and approved a $6000 payment to the two property owners affected by the right-of-way. Well that’s nice, you might be thinking, about time M&C made well on its promise to expand pedestrian access across the city, and you’d be right if it weren’t for the devil in the details. The city prioritizes sidewalk maintenance and construction using a list known as the Sidewalk Matrix, which includes all streets in Roswell. The matrix arranges the streets on a Tier I-III basis, Tier I needing the most attention and Tier III needing the least high priority to low priority basis. For example, a street ranked No. 6 would be higher in priority than a street ranked No. 12. With all the sidewalk gaps throughout Roswell, you’d expect the sidewalks being built as soon as possible to be Tier I highly ranked, but here’s the kicker: Pine Grove Road is rated Tier III That specific section of Coleman Road is rated No. 93 on the list, which means it is, in the words of Beeson, “very far down the list” in priority. So why is the relatively unimportant gap being filled in so soon?
The key here is knowing what importance Pine Grove Road holds to the specific members of M&C. The road begins as Magnolia Street in the busy Historic District, connecting directly to Canton Street before easing off into a two-lane road lined mostly with residential neighborhoods, an otherwise unremarkable street. The notable part, though, is that one of the councilmembers present at that meeting, councilwoman Christine Hall, not only lives in a neighborhood located off the street, but also, according to her own website, “serves on the HOA board of her neighborhood.” The question that must be asked is why is a low-rated project being done before other projects rated higher on the list? We would understand if it was a maintenance project, as things sidewalks often have to be repaired or torn up for installation of other amenities, but this project would be considered capital. The road “(doesn’t) have access to schools or parks or things of that nature… and so it really would be one of the last (gaps) to ever get done,” explained Director of Transportation Jeffrey Littlefield when asked by Beeson how the road got on the DOT’s radar with it being Tier III this low on the list. The explanation leaves more questions than answers though. The gap would usually be filled in last, yes, exactly, so why is it being filled in now? What’s the point of the Matrix if Tier III No. 93 is being filled in before a Tier I other higher-rated roads? Are the roads adjacent to the neighborhoods of M&C held in higher regard than other roads that are already used by the city’s bikers despite there being no sidewalk? Why specifically this Tier III low-rated road and not another? Well, I think we all know the answer to that one.
It might be a potential conflict of interest but It’s just a measly 650 feet, you might think, so is it really worth the fuss? To answer that question, the number of feet needs to be put aside and instead we must start looking at precedent. This move establishes that the roads that are to be worked on are those that would make life easiest for M&C rather than its constituents the city does not plan on actually sticking to the Matrix, a logical, useful, and straightforward tool, in their process of filling in the city’s many gaps. It forgoes reason in the city’s game of catch-up with our neighbors Milton and Alpharetta. Instead of doing what’s best for all of the city, the move further highlights the true nature of our current M&C: doing what’s best for a very small group of people, or in this case, what’s best for one singular person going about business seemingly without any order.
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