2010 News Archive
City beautifying roads with flowers, bushes and trees
Most of $113,000 in landscaping covered by grants and contributions
4/30/2010
Just in time for Arbor Day, the State has offered the City of Johns Creek a $50,000 grant that will contribute to an ambitious beautification effort along roads in the city.
It would bring the total road landscaping budget to about $113,000, including money from the State, the City of Johns Creek and the community.
The grant, which will pay for decorating the intersection of Jones Bridge and Abbotts Bridge roads, was made possible by a pledge of $10,000 in matching funds from Johns Creek Beautification, a civic group. The organization also set aside $5,000 for nurturing plants at Medlock Bridge Road at the city's southwestern entrance.
Because of Johns Creek Beautification's financial commitment to maintain the plantings, city officials were willing to apply for the state grants.
The roadway landscaping effort was launched in 2006 when Johns Creek Beautification planted trees and bushes along the Ga. 141 corridor from the Chattahoochee River to Abbotts Bridge Road. It is now working with the City on sprucing up other parts of the city.
The $50,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation will be used to landscape the intersection of Jones Bridge and Abbotts Bridge roads. The City Council accepted the grant at its April 26 meeting.
As envisioned, medians on some major roads and some key intersections will sport flowers, bushes and in some places, small- to medium-sized decorative trees.
City officials are concentrating on plants that are drought-resistant, hardy, and disease-resistant. They also want smaller trees that will yield if they're struck by vehicles. Among the plants selected for the landscaping are junipers, muhly grass, holly, Acoma Crape, Tonto Crape, Serviceberry bushes, and Wax Myrtles.
Last fall, DOT awarded the City an $18,000 grant for landscaping the median at Medlock Bridge near the Chattahoochee River, considered a gateway into the City. The gateway grant dovetails with a 5.4-mile median landscaping effort done four years ago by Johns Creek Beautification, a citizens group, and Technology Park Johns Creek.
Tree plantings along State Bridge Road were paid for with $30,000 from the City. If some of the trees die, the supplier will replace them.