Editorial: Many ideas proposed for Rocky Face and Walnut Avenue interchanges; let’s hear what business owners think

Published 12:01 am Saturday, September 26, 2020

The two corridors welcoming drivers to Dalton — the I-75 interchanges at Rocky Face and Walnut Avenue — could use some TLC.

They aren’t the most pleasing-to-the-eyes spots one will find while entering or exiting our nation’s highways, and the Dalton City Council wants to do something about it. Earlier this year, council members approved a $325,000 contract with the Atlanta architecture and engineering firm Goodwyn, Mills, Cawood to study the West Walnut Avenue and Rocky Face interchange areas. The goal was to make those areas look better, make them less congested with traffic and help improve their economic vitality.

A representative with the design firm recently presented council members with its “30% design plan” for Rocky Face and Walnut Avenue. A 30% design plan is a preliminary design that generates initial ideas. And there were plenty of ideas, which you can read in today’s story on page 1A.

The proposals — and remember, these are just ideas and nothing has been decided — included turning Walnut Avenue into a more pedestrian-friendly, tree-lined thoroughfare; an access road linking Market Street and its shops and restaurants to Dug Gap Road;. and taking out curb cuts into businesses and shopping centers along West Walnut Avenue. The plan would be done in stages. Some projects might not be completed for 20 years down the road.

And with any plan that involves major changes to roads, the overall plan would be expensive.

Data provided by city officials indicate that preliminary estimates are that beautification to the interchanges (landscaping, decorative arches, etc.) would cost $3.375 million to $3.585 million; the Walnut Avenue improvements, $8.43 million, the Market Street streetscaping, $1.424 million; and the access road and roundabout, $3.669 million.

Road work isn’t cheap. In the fall of 2016, the Georgia Department of Transportation wrapped up a $33.58-million reconstruction of the Rocky Face interchange. That project addressed safety concerns with the interchange, but did not address the beautification and economic redevelopment goals of this new proposal.

While we agree that the city should make improvements to the Rocky Face and Walnut Avenue interchanges, we believe the next step is talking to business owners along those corridors. This could be done through surveys and a public meeting, held at the Dalton Convention Center and live-streamed to ensure social distancing during the pandemic.

What changes, if any, would business owners like to see? How would a reduction in curb cuts affect their business? Do they have any suggestions that would improve the areas?

After all, those business owners’ livelihoods depend on the traffic that comes into their retail shops, grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants every day. They know the areas the best, and their input is vital before any more money is spent.