Controversy has resurfaced over the installation of a roundabout at Ashford Dunwoody Road and Windsor Parkway in Brookhaven.
At a public meeting in November 2023, criticism from residents and local leaders included bike and pedestrian safety, traffic flow, and cost.
Rev. Monica Mainwaring of St. Martins in the Field Episcopal Church frequently bikes across Atlanta. She prefers a three-way stop intersection at Ashford Dunwoody Road and Windsor Parkway.
“Please, do not move ahead with the project,” Mainwaring said in November.
This time around, the issue is tree removal. St. Martin’s Episcopal claims that after two public comment meetings and months of review, the city has been “disingenuous” about “the extent of deforestation” the project will cause.
“The 650 students at St. Martin’s school who will be directly impacted and the 1,200 members of St. Martin’s Church will not be happy about all the tree loss,” Mainwaring told Brookhaven City Council on July 24.
During a meeting in which both parties walked the property, St. Martin’s had asked Brookhaven to mark every tree that would be removed.
“We did not learn until June that actually meant almost all of [the trees] on the north side and the south side of Windsor Parkway,” Mainwaring said. “Having asked previously, it feels a little disingenuous that we’ve moved the project forward without notifying the community.”
Mainwaring invited city council members to “stand with me on Lanier Drive at Ashford Dunwoody Road, imagine all the trees gone, and tell me that it’s still a good idea.”
“Given what you are asking of the church property – which is to purchase pieces of our properties [so] that you can take all the trees away, all the sound buffer, all the beauty of the birds that call that home – we would be remiss not to state again, ‘There are better alternatives,’” Mainwaring said.
St. Martins submitted a letter to city staff, Brookhaven Capital Projects Manager Matt Risher, and District 1 City Councilmember Michael Diaz on July 18, stating pedestrian and bicycle safety “suggest a traffic signal is a better alternative” than a roundabout.
The letter found fault in the plan’s traffic flow, the plan to remove a significant number of mature trees on both sides of Windsor Parkway, and the subsequent erosion and drainage.
“At this time the final landscape plans have not been approved by GDOT; however, we will continue to work with the school, church and residents to approve a plan that addresses the needs of the community,” said Brookhaven Communications Director Burke Brennan.
GDOT Project Manager Lily Slaughter told Rough Draft that the roundabout is a “Brookhaven sponsored project.”
The project is part of the Brookhaven Comprehensive Transportation Plan adopted by the City Council in September 2014. It is estimated to cost $4.2 million.