Contact: Julie Brechbill

770-594-6416

jbrechbill@roswellgov.com

City Launches RoswellOnTheGo.com for Mobile Users

Roswell, GA (April 20, 2012)-In a world of smart phones, it is imperative to have an easy-to-access mobile website at your fingertips. The City is following that trend with its new mobile-friendly website, www.roswellonthego.com.

This mobile-friendly website provides direct links to Roswell news, a City Department telephone directory, social media sites, transportation/traffic announcements, a calendar of events, citizen action requests and a facility directory.

“We tried to compile information that people would need on the go,” explains Community Relations Manager Julie Brechbill. “Traffic information, a phone directory and event information….quick access to commonly searched items on our official website, roswellgov.com.”

The mobile-friendly site links directly back to the City’s official website www.roswellgov.com. The mobile site is built for compatibility with iPhone and Android phones.

Meetings will begin airing the Tuesday following a meeting to allow staff time to upload the meeting footage. Air times include:

• Tuesday & Thursday at 7 p.m.
• Monday, Friday & Saturday at 9 a.m.
• Sunday at Noon

The meetings will also be viewable on the City’s official website at www.roswellgov.com/citymeetings beginning the Wednesday following each meeting.

Historic Gateway Transportation Public Meeting Planned

Roswell, GA (March 28, 2012)-The City of Roswell will host a Historic Gateway Transportation Public Open House on April 26 from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. at the Roswell Visitors Center, 617 Atlanta Street. Roswell residents, business owners and other stakeholders are invited to attend.

At this open house, attendees will be able to view both concepts presented at the public meeting held in December 2011, as well as the detailed information used to select the preferred concept by Mayor & City Council. This meeting will give attendees the opportunity to voice approval or concerns about the preferred concept selection.

The primary goal of the Gateway Project is to make multimodal transportation and safety improvements along the Atlanta Street corridor that include the removal of the outdated reversible lane system. A secondary goal is to improve operations and safety at the intersection of Atlanta Street and Riverside Road/Azalea Drive. A third goal is to improve the economic vitality of the area.

For additional information about the Historic Gateway project, visit www.roswellgov.com/historicgateway. If you would like to be added to the project mailing list, please email WigginsTolbert@pbworld.com.

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Roswell to Install Flashing Beacon Pedestrian Signal

Roswell, GA (March 6, 2012)–The City of Roswell is constantly looking for innovative ways to enhance pedestrian safety and is currently conducting a pilot project to test Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB). As part of the pilot program, the City has selected the crosswalk on Scott Road at Eves Road in front of Centennial High School for this test installation.

RRFB are a comparatively newer traffic control device to enhance pedestrian safety at uncontrolled (un-signalized) crosswalks. RRFB are essentially flashing amber LED lights powered with solar energy that are activated with a push button to get motorist’s attention to pedestrians in the crosswalk.

The effectiveness of the device will be studied 30 to 60 days after the installation. The cost of all necessary equipment is approximately $5,500 and the device will be installed and maintained by City staff.

For questions about RRFB’s, please contact Muhammad Rauf, Senior Transportation Engineer at 770-594-6525.

For more information regarding Roswell Transportation projects, please visit our website at www.roswellgov.com/conezone.

To learn more about how RRFB’s work, watch an informational video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBltx0Argag.

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• United States – 8.5%
• Georgia – 9.7%
• Atlanta MSA – 9.4%
• Fulton County – 9.8%
• Roswell – 7.1%
• Alpharetta – 7.2%
• Sandy Springs – 7.8%
• Johns Creek – 7.8%

Roswell has the lowest unemployment rate in the state, for the second month in a row!
Source: Georgia Department of Labor, Workforce Statistics & Economic Research

2011-10-13 Great Places Award CantonStreet

The secret is out about Roswell’s historic treasure – Canton Street! The setting for great shopping, dining and special events like Alive After 5 was recently awarded the “2011 Great Places in Georgia – Great Street” by the Georgia Planning Association (GPA). Canton Street was described as “the hottest scene OTP” (OTP-outside the perimeter.)

The GPA award acknowledges that good planning has been crucial to preserving Canton Street and making it the vibrant “Great Street” it is today. Canton Street received this award because of the alfresco dining craze, being a walker’s dream street and for the people looking for “the Virginia Highland experience OTP, Canton Street has it covered.” According to the award application, ‘Historic commercial buildings and historic homes house restaurants, offices, retail and residential space. The Heart of Roswell Park provides a public park space in a historic commercial area and narrow streets with brick sidewalks and street trees provide character-defining elements that contribute to an enjoyable experience for all and provide the setting for a variety of experiences including shopping dining and festivals. Good planning has been crucial to making Canton Street a “Great Street in Georgia”! Citizens and visitors alike enjoy this historic and memorable sense of place.’

The Georgia Planning Association (GPA) is an official Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA). GPA is a 1,000-plus member organization of professional planners and planning officials who serve Georgia’s communities in many ways, at all levels of government, the private sector and not-for-profit organizations.

A special presentation was made at the October 10th Mayor and City Council Meeting.

Roswell Bus Shelter

Shelter Installations:

• The City is installing a unique bus shelter design (not a typical MARTA shelter) that does not include advertising at 10 bus stops in Roswell.
• Roswell is the first city to install and maintain unique bus shelters in the MARTA service area that will serve MARTA bus riders.
• The Bus Shelters provide protection from the weather, and include a bench, a trash can and a bike rack. Each shelter will also display bus route information and schedules.
• Because the City is a nationally designated Bicycle Friendly Community, each bus shelter location includes a bike rack. One bus stop location (at Holcomb Bridge Road at SR 400) also includes a bike locker. A bike locker allows a bicycle to be locked inside a compartment and protected from the weather.
• The bus stop improvements will provide a neater, cleaner look and will improve transit rider accommodations.
• These unique bus shelters were carefully designed to fit into and enhance the City’s historical character.

Other:

• The City is also installing 15 Simme-Seats – a pair of simple, tasteful seats attached to a MARTA bus stop sign – thereby making improvements at a total of 25 bus stops.
• The locations of bus shelters and Simme-Seats were determined based upon ridership.

MARTA Offset Fund Projects:

The Atlanta Regional Commission programmed $25 million of MARTA capital funds in return for funding MARTA Operations in 2009. In return, the City of Roswell was eligible to program $1,674,500 in capital improvements that enhance or augment the existing MARTA bus service in the City. The City is spending $250,000 on bus stop improvements and the remainder on new sidewalks within ¾ mile of MARTA bus routes.

Media Photo/Video Opportunity:

If you would like to shoot some footage during a shelter installation, please contact the City to check on the contractor’s schedule. City staff can also meet you on site to answer any questions.

Please contact Andrew Antweiler, Project Manager, at 678-639-7540, or aantweiler@roswellgov.com.

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