Mableton Parkway sidewalks and trails that will eventually connect the Chattahoochee River Trail with the Silver Comet Trail were brought one step closer to reality.
At this morning’s meeting of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners the county’s transportation agency was given the green light to accept a ranked list of the three most qualified engineering firms to design a section of the sidewalk and multi-use path. A committee had been formed to evaluate engineering firms for the job, and now that the committee’s list has been accepted the next step is to negotiate an agreement with one of the firms.
Erica Parish, Cobb’s transportation agency director, told the Courier she did not expect reaching an agreement to take long, since many of the details have already been worked through.
According to the proposal Parish presented to the BOC, “Phase 2 includes construction of a ten-foot wide multi-use trail on the west side of Mableton Parkway, from Factory Shoals Road to Veterans Memorial Highway. This trail will provide a needed connection to the County’s transit system, allowing additional bicycle and pedestrian access to CobbLinc for transit patrons. This project will also be linked with existing trails and other trail projects currently being designed, eventually providing a continuous six-mile connection from the Silver Comet Trail to the Chattahoochee River. The total length of Phase 2 of this project is approximately 1.30 miles.”
The engineering design for the project will be funded from the 2016 SPLOST.
The committee that chose the qualified firms included Reginald Bryant and Kelly Patrick, Department of Transportation; Phillip Westbrook, Community Development; and Rita Neely and Andrew Heath, Water System. Additionally, Rustavius Ford, Department of Transportation Pre-Construction Engineer, served as Technical Advisor to the selection committee.
The committee ranked the firms as follows:
American Engineers, Inc.
Southeastern Engineering, Inc.
Wolverton & Associates, Inc.
Once an agreement on the scope of the services and fees has been negotiated, it will come back to the Board of Commissioners for approval.