County to conduct McFarland Livable Community Initiative feasibility study

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners will contract with Kimley Horn Planning and Design Engineers to conduct the McFarland Livable Communities Initiative (LCI) feasibility study.

Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve $300,000 for the project. Funding will be provided by a matching grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission. The county match is 20 percent.

The study area initially was to be McFarland to Ga. 400 but Commissioner Todd Levent asked to expand the study to include the west side of McFarland to Hwy. 9.

While most LCIs focus on housing, Assistant County Manager Brandon Kenney said the McFarland LCI will focus on the various types of travel modes, including transit roadways, walking and biking trails and increased roadway connectivity. “This is for study only and does not commit the county to anything outside the 20 percent match,” Kenney said.

It will align with the Comprehensive Plan that is now in the public participation phase and the Transportation Master Plan approved by commissioners near the end of last year.

County Manager Kevin Tanner said the study will look specifically at the state’s plan to bring two additional managed lanes up Ga. 400 with an exit at Union Hill below McFarland. “They are also going to run BRT (bus rapid transit) station at Windward in Alpharetta and a station in Roswell. So we want to look at how we can possibly look at that connectivity to move our citizens to Roswell and the Alpharetta hub as we are looking at designating sourh Forsyth and north Fulton as technology corridors.”