Avondale Estates, GA — The Avondale Estates City Commission, at its April 10 regular meeting, approved a few contracts related to the U.S. 278 complete street project, one of those being a construction contract.

The city commission approved these contracts on Wednesday:

– A contract between the Georgia Department of Transportation

– A contract with IP Construction to build the project

– A contract with Midtown ATL Solutions to help with grant administration

– A contract with Stantec for construction administration

U.S. 278 is the main drag in Avondale Estates, which runs through the city and its historic downtown. It is also known as East College Avenue and North Avondale Road.

“Those contracts are still being finalized, but the motion for approval tonight will allow us to go ahead and appropriate those funds and allow the mayor to execute those contracts as soon as they are finalized,” City Manager Patrick Bryant said on Wednesday night.

The project includes a road diet that will reduce the travel lanes from five to three between Sam’s Crossing and Ashton Place. The length of the project corridor is 1.15 miles.

There will be some on-street parking. The project also calls for a 10-foot path along the entire corridor on the north side of the street, new traffic lights and streetlights, a center median, and a five-foot sidewalk on the south side of the street between South Avondale Road and Sam’s Crossing. The city is not planning to touch the Abelia hedge as part of the project.

The total cost of the construction is about $8.5 million. Construction will likely begin in May or June and take about 18 months.

The city received a federal grant of $4 million for the project, $737,000 from the State Road and Tollway Authority, and $2 million from the Atlanta Regional Commission. The city is contributing about $1.2 million.

In other business:

– The city commission approved a property exchange with 278 Oak Holdings, a company owned by Avila Real Estate. Avila has plans for a large, mixed-use project in Avondale, which has been a decade in the making.

The city of Avondale Estates purchased the property at 2950 Franklin Street from Fenner Dunlop in 2022. It is located north of the Town Green, at the end of Lake Street, and next to the Avila property.

Lifeline Animal Adoption Center was previously located at that property. The parcel has been appraised at $166,828.

The city purchased that property to construct Lake Street. According to the resolution, the city did not use about 0.15 acres for the road project.

Avila owns the 13-acre concrete lot behind the Town Green at 147 Oak Street. The city needs 0.355 acres of the lot to complete the road connecting Washington and Parry Streets.

In 2021, the city commission had declared its intent to use eminent domain to acquire that 0.355 from Avila. That portion was appraised at $560,000.

The city has constructed Lake Street and a section of Washington Street between Oak and Lake Streets. The resolution authorizes the property swap so the city can open the newly constructed road, and the portion of 2950 Franklin Street will become part of Avila’s development plans for the 13-acre lot.

Bryant added that for the exchange to be finalized there has to be an environmental clearance, and the city will exchange a wooden power pole for a concrete power pole.

“If those conditions are satisfied, the two properties would be exchanged with no additional cash considerations and would allow us to move forward with opening the Washington Street extension,” Bryant said.

Avila has received a land disturbance permit to begin demolishing the 13-acre property. The developer plans a mixed-use project that includes mostly apartments and some retail. Plans have not been finalized, and the city has not approved any other agreements with Avila.

– The city commission set the sanitation fee at $380 and stormwater fee at $180.

“[The sanitation fee] is based on the cumulative fees that will be charged by our third party vendor, Arrow, plus the fee that the city will need to cover yard waste services and tipping fees, and essentially a $6 additional fee to establish an emergency fund,” Bryant said.

– Bryant also shared that the city is working with Lord Aeck Sargent to conduct a traffic study to look at traffic-calming in the residential area.

“They’re going to do an assessment of traffic conditions,” Bryant said. “They’re going to hold a working session for the public. They are going to deliver character images, street typologies and improvement mechanisms. They’re going to develop an improvement work plan, and they will also provide us with striping plans, if they see a need to potentially stripe differently.”