Transportation/Transit | Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District

Listed below are active or recently completed projects of the Gwinnett Place CID.

Satellite Boulevard at Pleasant Hill Road Intersection Improvement Project

The CID will further explore additional intersection design alternatives to improve the congested Satellite Boulevard at Pleasant Hill Road interchange. Currently operating at a Level of Service (LOS) D, traffic studies show that an increase of vehicular activity will likely cause the intersection to fail – addressing other operations along the corridor will not avoid or ameliorate this situation. The resulting intersection improvement project will provide a major capacity improvement and positions the intersection for future travel demand at a central location in the CID. The goal of the analysis and initial preliminary engineering will be to to identify a preferred alternative that best accommodates future traffic demand at the intersection of Pleasant Hill Road and Satellite Boulevard while creating a sense of place for the Gwinnett Place area and promoting a safe walkable environment.

Venture Drive Widening Project

Plans are underway to widen Venture Drive to four lanes from Steve Reynolds Boulevard to Day Drive. This project ties into the recently completed improvement projects along Venture Drive at Satellite Boulevard, Day Drive and Gwinnett Place Drive intersections. The improvement concepts include pedestrian enhancements and the increased capacity for movement between Pleasant Hill Road and Steve Reynolds Boulevard.

Venture Drive at Day Drive Roundabout Project

The Gwinnett Place CID worked in partnership with the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation and the State Road and Tollway Authority to construct a roundabout on Venture Drive at Day Drive that improves traffic flow and reduces conflict points in the congested area. Roundabouts have been proven safer and more efficient than other types of circular intersections. According to research by U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, roundabouts have a 35 percent reduction in all crashes, 76 percent reduction in injuries and more than 90 percent reduction in fatalities. Roundabouts also are safer for cyclists and pedestrians when crossing traffic.

Completed in 2020, this project was funded through the 2017 and 2009 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) program, the State Road and Tollway Authority Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank and the CID.

GPCID created an informative video to showcase how to properly use the Venture Drive at Day Drive roundabout. Watch below!

Venture Drive at Steve Reynolds Boulevard Intersection Improvement Project

Completed in 2020, the project widened Venture Drive at the corner of Steve Reynolds Boulevard to add a second eastbound through lane and extend the southbound left turn lane. This project is funded through the 2017 and 2009 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) program and the CID.

Area-wide Traffic Responsive System

The Gwinnett Place area traffic system consists of 49 signalized intersections with primary corridors including Pleasant Hill Road, Satellite Boulevard, Steve Reynolds Boulevard, and Club Drive. The Gwinnett Place system also includes two interchanges with I-85, a half diamond at Steve Reynolds Boulevard and a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) at Pleasant Hill Road. Pleasant Hill Road includes 23 intersections and is bound by an interchange on either end of the corridor, SR 13/Buford Highway to the north and Ronald Reagan Parkway to the south. Pleasant Hill Road maintains heavy volumes throughout day with additional commuter travel during the peaks. Satellite Boulevard includes 14 intersections and is parallel to I-85. It is a popular alternate route to I-85 with heavy peaks during the AM and PM. Steve Reynolds Boulevard, combined with Club Drive, are a popular alternative route to Pleasant Hill Road as it circumvents some of the congestion surrounding Gwinnett Place Mall. This route consists of 10 intersections.

Traffic Responsive Signal control systems (TR) are useful in areas with heavy traffic volumes and unpredictable traffic patterns. The system reacts to changes in traffic demand and then implements timing plans most suited for the traffic conditions. It works well along popular alternative or bypass routes that are impacted by weather, incidents, seasonal variations, or planned special events. The Gwinnett Place system is an ideal location for a TR system because of the heavy and often variable volumes along Pleasant Hill Road, alternate route options for I-85 and Pleasant Hill Road, and volume variation on weekends due to traffic generated by area retail. The goal for the Gwinnett Place TR system is to run the most suitable traffic control patterns based on traffic volumes.

Working in partnership with the CID, the Gwinnett County and Georgia Departments of Transportation completed a retiming for the Gwinnett Place system in September 2017 with the TR system becoming operational in November 2018. Because of the dynamic traffic volumes surrounding Gwinnett Place, the system operates better with TR than with traditional static time of day operations. The system now reacts to changes in traffic demand and automatically implements traffic patterns appropriate for the traffic conditions. The Final Timing Report for the Gwinnett Place Traffic System 2019 documents the improvements in travel times and average speeds in the area as a result of TR operations.

Connectivity between McDaniel Farm and Shorty Howell Park

In order to achieve greater walkability in the district, Gwinnett Place CID envisions a strategy for connecting residential, commercial and recreational destinations in the greater Gwinnett Place area. The Gwinnett Place CID has proposed a network of trails to increase walkability and improve the pedestrian experience in the immediate Gwinnett Place area and also complete a section of the Gwinnett County’s Greenway system. By creating safer, more scenic and direct pedestrian routes, along with providing added transportation options to reduce vehicular traffic, these trails can help spark redevelopment in Gwinnett Place.

The project goals for connecting the Gwinnett Place commercial area to McDaniel Farm and Shorty Howell Park are to:

Increase walkability between key residential, commercial and recreational destinations, to spur redevelopment in the Gwinnett Place area
Connect Gwinnett Place to the larger network of Gwinnett County greenways and open space, to provide alternative transportation options to destinations throughout the county
Create a safe and enjoyable experience along the entirety of the trail system, and to encourage walking and biking as transportation alternatives
View Gwinnett Place Connected Plan

In March 2021, Gwinnett County, the Atlanta Regional Commission, Sugarloaf CID and Gwinnett Place CID completed the Loop Trail study, a conceptional document with trail alignments, typical sections, cost estimates, and a project deliverability plan to position the project for future funding opportunities. There is a significant need for a comprehensive planning effort for alternative mode transportation that connects activity centers, including the Gwinnett Place area, Gas South District and associated future mixed-use developments, Shorty Howell Park, McDaniel Farm Park, Peachtree Ridge Park, Suwanee Creek Greenway, and Western Gwinnett Pathway as well as future transit routes. This planning study evaluated a 17-mile trail to encompass these areas and provide both recreational and transportation infrastructure that will reduce the number of vehicular trips in this growing area.

Click here to read the report.

Gwinnett Place Drive/Mall Boulevard Complete Street Projects

GPCID Beautification As outlined in the ACTivate Gwinnett Place plan, the CID has prepared construction plans to transform Mall Boulevard and Gwinnett Place Drive into complete streets. The designs call for reducing vehicular traffic lanes to transition space within the existing right-of-way to provide sidewalks, green space and multi-modal travel options; thereby, converting the two roadways from a car-only corridor to complete streets, with limited impact to the level of service of the roadway’s traffic capacity. Beginning first with Mall Boulevard, the complete street will become a three lane roadway section; two travels lanes with a center turn lane. A 6′ wide sidewalk will be added to the south side of the roadway with landscape strip buffer between the roadway and sidewalk. A 38′ wide corridor is then created on the north side which will provide for linear green space serving as a sidewalk, a multi-use corridor for cyclists; all in a park-like setting, infusing the area with opportunities to move between parcels safely on foot, on bike and by car.

For the Mall Boulevard project, Gwinnett County DOT has completed right of way acquisitions. Construction will begin as redevelopment progresses at the Gwinnett Place Mall site.

Mall Boulevard and Gwinnett Place Drive complete street plans

Transit Improvements Along the I-85 Corridor

GPCID Transportation The I-85 corridor remains one of the most congested corridors in the Atlanta region. New mobility options are needed to improve connectivity between major activity centers in Gwinnett and provide a high capacity transportation alternative to automobile travel. In order to improve the quality of life and the economic livelihood of Gwinnett’s central business district, a series of transit studies have been led by the CID to address these needs. The first I-85 Corridor Light Rail Transit Feasibility Study was initiated in September 2008 to evaluate the technical and financial viability of a light rail transit (LRT) line in Gwinnett County.

In partnership with the Atlanta Regional Commission, Gwinnett County, the Gateway 85 Gwinnett CID and the Sugarloaf CID, the Gwinnett Place CID is currently involved with the Satellite Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Study.

Over the years, the CID has studied the potential benefits of serving the I-85 corridor with transit: