Woodland Brook Drive Closed This Summer for Drainage Improvements

The Woodland Brook Drive culvert replacement project is set to begin soon and Vinings residents will have the chance to learn more Monday at 5 p.m. at the Vinings Library. The SPLOST project will close Woodland Brook Drive for six weeks this summer.

, Bryan Ricks, a Cobb County District 2 engineer, outlined the scope of the project. Woodland Brook Drive is prone to flooding because of an inadequate drainage system, he said. Currently there are dual-48-inch pipes running underneath Woodland Brook Drive. These will be replaced by a 20-foot by 8.25-foot arch culvert.

“It won’t have a bottom to it, but it’s going to be an arch culvert,” he said. “The square-footage as you can see with the dual-48-inch pipes is about 25 square feet is what that will hold. This new will be 125 square feet.”

Installing the arch culvert will require that Woodland Brook Drive be raised one-and-a-half feet. Ricks said the improvements will ease flooding on Woodland Brook Drive and its neighboring streets.

“It’s not going to be a project that’s going to solve the September 2009 floods,” he said. “It will be a project that will solve the more localized storms events and enable Brandy Station to remain open and not close during these more localized-type storms.”

Completing the project requires that Woodland Brook Drive close to traffic for six weeks. At the meeting in March, the project was scheduled to begin soon after Cobb County schools let out for the summer on May 24. Ricks said Cobb County Department of Transportation forecasts the project will be complete by the time school starts on August 13. Here's the detour route:

Southbound Woodland Brook Drive:

North and then west on Paces Ferry Road to Cumberland Parkway

South on Cumberland Parkway to Beech Haven Trail/Log Cabin Drive

South and then east on Beech Haven Trail/Log Cabin Drive to Woodland Brook Drive

Northbound Woodland Brook Drive:

West and then north on Log Cabin/Beech Haven Trail to Cumberland Parkway

North on Cumberland Parkway to Paces Ferry Road

East and then south on Paces Ferry Road to Woodland Brook Drive

Ricks acknowledged that the detour route was not ideal, but added that steps had been put in place to make rerouting traffic as smooth as possible.

“Understanding that people are going to try to cut through Randall Farm Road, there are speed humps there, which should slow them down,” he said. “We’re going to have police to have more presence. I’ve also asked Brook Martin, which is over the signal department, to look into adjusting the signals along the detour route so it can handle the increased traffic.”

Residents can ask questions and get more information about the project at an informational meeting Monday, May 14 at the at 5 p.m. Residents can also sign up for e-updates at District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott’s website so they can receive weekly notices about the project’s progress. Those who can’t make the meeting can view a project presentation online.