Brentwood schedules Aug. 18 public meeting on Old Smyrna Road redesign; engineers present three alternatives

Brentwood city staff and consultants said at a commission briefing that a public meeting will be held Aug. 18 to gather stakeholder input on three design alternatives for Old Smyrna Road, a historic corridor that connects to Windy Hill Park.

Gamble Design Collaborative landscape architect Julie Jones, who is presenting the public materials, said the firm will show renderings and a digital survey at the meeting. “This is the presentation as we have now that the public will see,” Jones said, describing plans for two public sessions, artist sketches by Ben Johnson and a follow-up stakeholder meeting after the commission reviews public feedback.

The three alternatives discussed were:
- Alternate A: Construct a new two-lane roadway north of the existing alignment and convert the existing Old Smyrna Road into a pedestrian/multiuse corridor. Consultants estimate Alternate A at about $9.6 million (preliminary figure), preserving most of the historic stone walls and trees while adding traffic-calming features and roundabouts at key cut-throughs.
- Alternate B: Reuse the existing Old Smyrna Road as a one-way travel lane and build the new lane adjacent to it. Consultants said B would require rebuilding the existing road to current standards, closing the old alignment during construction, and extensive drainage and curb work; initial estimates are roughly 30–50% higher than A and C.
- Alternate C: Build a new two-lane roadway similar to A but keep the existing road as a low-volume frontage/local access way for adjacent residents; the old road would remain a vehicle route (posted and restricted for local traffic), while a separated multiuse trail would connect to Windy Hill Park.

Consultants and staff emphasized trade-offs among safety, cost, tree preservation and resident access. Sullivan Engineering’s Dickie Sullivan said Alternate B would pose the most construction-phase disruption. “With B, we would have to close Old Smyrna Road,” Sullivan said, noting access and phasing challenges and higher contractor costs associated with maintaining resident access during a rebuild.

Julie Jones, who said she is a certified arborist, summarized the tree-assessment findings: trenching and new drainage required by Alternate B would likely necessitate root pruning and removal of some mature trees on the south side of the corridor. “Alternate B poses the highest risk to long-term tree health,” she said, explaining that typical drainage trenches could be 5–8 feet deep and that roots close to trunks would be affected. By contrast, Jones told the commission Alternates A and C would better preserve tree canopy and the historic wall in most places.

Design features discussed included roundabouts at the west end (proposed for all alternatives), mini-roundabouts or other traffic-calming at driveway cut-throughs on Alternate A, and a separated 10-foot multiuse trail linking to Windy Hill Park. Consultants said Alternates A and C are within roughly 5% of each other in preliminary cost comparisons; B is substantially higher.

The project team outlined engagement plans: an Aug. 18 public meeting with staffed tables for each alternative, printed comment cards for those without phones, and a QR-code digital survey (about 20–25 questions) to capture ranked priorities (safety, aesthetics, tree preservation, traffic). Gamble Design said it would compile both the survey and paper feedback and present results to the commission, followed by a stakeholder-only meeting and a possible design contract with SEI for the selected alternative.

Commissioners and staff asked that the presentation clarify safety comparisons among the alternatives and avoid excessive time on options that engineering analysis shows are poor fits. Staff said the public presentation will explicitly note which options are not considered feasible and will show likely safety outcomes and cost differentials to help the public weigh trade-offs.

Next steps: the consultant team will finalize the public packet and renderings, hold the Aug. 18 meeting, close the digital survey shortly thereafter (team indicated a planned 48-hour window after the meeting to reduce late submissions) and return to the commission with compiled feedback and refined cost estimates. Commissioners did not take a formal vote at the briefing; they directed staff to proceed with the public engagement plan and return with results for a future direction decision.

Why it matters: Old Smyrna Road is a historically wooded corridor with stone walls and a canopy that residents value for its character. The commission must weigh safety, long-term tree and wall preservation, construction impacts on residents’ access and the differing costs of engineering approaches before authorizing design and construction funding.