North Fulton Voters Will Decide the Future of $300 Million in Transportation Projects

North Fulton voters will return to a familiar question in November: whether to continue paying an extra three-quarters of a cent in sales tax to fund roads, bridges, sidewalks and trails.

If the measure passes, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Milton and Roswell are projected to divide about $300.4 million over five years. The money could reshape intersections, extend the Alpha Loop, build trails through Roswell and place more than $44 million into Johns Creek streetscapes.

What voters cannot yet see is equally important. Some cities have named roads and intersections. Others have reserved tens of millions of dollars for projects described only as “citywide,” leaving the exact locations, construction schedules and individual costs to be decided later.

The referendum will appear on the Nov. 3 general-election ballot for Fulton County voters outside Atlanta. Although the ballot language asks whether an “additional” 0.75 percent sales tax should be collected, the measure is a renewal of the transportation tax residents already pay. Approval would keep the rate in place; rejection would allow the current tax to expire.

The new collection period would run from April 1, 2027, through March 31, 2032. Fulton County expects the tax to produce approximately $650 million for 14 participating cities, with each city’s share based on its estimated 2024 population. The cities would select, manage and build their own projects. Fulton County announced the agreement Monday.

The $300 Million Is a Forecast, Not a Guarantee

The four North Fulton cities would receive a combined $300,440,484 if sales-tax collections reach the county’s full forecast. Roswell would receive the largest share at $98.2 million, followed by Johns Creek at $86.4 million, Alpharetta at $71.6 million and Milton at $44.2 million.

Those figures are not guaranteed. The complete transportation agreement and project list divides the work into three funding tiers.

The first tier assumes collections reach 85 percent of the forecast. Under that more cautious scenario, the four cities would share about $255.4 million. Tier 2 brings the total to the advertised $300.4 million if collections reach 100 percent. A third group of projects could push the North Fulton total to $345.5 million, but only if revenue reaches 115 percent of the forecast.

In practical terms, most of the core program is protected in Tier 1. Several additional intersections, sidewalks and trails depend on stronger collections.

Alpharetta’s List Names Roads, Sidewalks and Loop Connections

Alpharetta would receive approximately $71.6 million under the full forecast.

The largest portion, nearly $30.9 million, is reserved for citywide maintenance. Another $7 million would support operations and safety work, including improvements at Clubhouse Drive and Douglas Road, Mansell Road between GA 400 and Old Roswell Road, a Charlotte Drive mini-roundabout and the intersection of Haynes Bridge and Mansell roads.

The city would direct $3.5 million toward the Hembree Road corridor between Wills Road and Morrison Parkway. Pedestrian, bicycle and streetscape projects would receive slightly more than $30.2 million.

Those projects include an Academy Street sidewalk between North Side Presbyterian Church and Alpharetta Fire Station 81, Brookside corridor improvements, a Kimball Bridge Road sidewalk between Northwinds and Westside parkways, a Windward sidewalk and another section of the Northwinds Alpha Loop.

If collections reach the full forecast, Alpharetta could also undertake additional Alpha Loop sections and intersection crossings, along with a Milton Avenue sidewalk.

Alpharetta’s list provides recognizable locations, but not individual budgets for most of them. Residents can see which corridors are eligible for funding, but not how the city intends to divide $30.2 million among the pedestrian and streetscape projects.

Johns Creek Would Receive $86 Million Without Naming One Road

Johns Creek has the second-largest North Fulton allocation—and the least specific public list.

Of the city’s projected $86.4 million, approximately $22.9 million is designated for maintenance and safety, $4.3 million for bridges and $10.9 million for operations and safety. Every one of those categories is described simply as “citywide.”

Another $44.1 million is assigned to “citywide streetscape projects.” Project management would consume approximately $4.3 million.

No road, bridge, intersection, sidewalk or trail is named in either of Johns Creek’s first two funding tiers.

That does not necessarily mean the city lacks plans. Johns Creek has an established list of transportation and Town Center initiatives that could qualify. The approved TSPLOST document, however, does not tell voters which of those projects would receive the money, which streetscapes would come first or what the city expects to complete during the five-year tax period.

The broad language gives the city considerable flexibility as construction costs and needs change. It also asks voters to approve $86 million with substantially less location-level information than Alpharetta or Roswell provides.

Milton Keeps Much of Its Plan Flexible

Milton would receive approximately $44.2 million at the full forecast.

Its plan sets aside $10 million for maintenance, $10 million for bridges and $15 million for operations and safety. The list identifies general priorities including corridor improvements, roundabouts, work in southeast Crabapple and a Deerfield Connector between State Route 9 and Deerfield Parkway.

Pedestrian, bicycle and streetscape work would receive about $6.6 million. An additional $1.6 million is reserved for quick-response projects and $1 million for project management.

Like Johns Creek, Milton leaves many decisions for later. Its categories identify the type of work more often than the exact location. When the preliminary list was presented in May, the city said it was intentionally preserving discretion over the particular corridors, roundabouts and streetscapes to be selected. Mayor Peyton Jamison described the list as the beginning of a process that would move into specific projects later. Milton’s account of that discussion acknowledged that much of the detail had yet to be settled.

Voters therefore know that Milton intends to spend heavily on bridges, safety and smaller road improvements. They do not yet know which bridges would receive the $10 million or how the city would divide the money among corridors and roundabouts.

Roswell Places Trails at the Center of Its Plan

Roswell’s projected $98.2 million allocation is the largest among the four cities and includes the most extensive collection of named projects.

Approximately $22.9 million would go toward citywide resurfacing. The plan also reserves $9.2 million for bridges, although it does not identify the bridges.

Intersection and safety work would receive about $13.7 million. Named locations include Alpharetta Highway at Mansell Road, Crabapple Road at Hembree Road and Hardscrabble Road at King Road.

Another $11 million would support improvements along Nesbit Ferry Road between Holcomb Bridge and Old Alabama roads and along Hembree Road between Wills and Maxwell roads.

The defining part of Roswell’s plan is its $41.4 million commitment to pedestrian, bicycle and streetscape projects. That category includes a Norcross Street multiuse trail from Canton Street to Pattingham Drive, rehabilitation of the Vickery Creek trail between Oxbo Road and the waterfall near the mill ruins, an East Roswell Loop trail from Old Alabama Road to Eves Road and sidewalk improvements along Atlanta Street between Roswell Road and Hill Street.

As in Alpharetta, the city names the projects but does not assign a cost to each one. Voters know the collective trail budget, but not whether one difficult project might consume a disproportionate share.

Additional Roswell work appears in Tier 3 and would depend on collections exceeding the forecast. That list includes an intersection project at Alpharetta Highway and Hembree Road, median islands along Holcomb Bridge Road and three more multiuse trails.

What Voters Know—and What They Do Not

The North Fulton plan reveals a clear regional direction. More than $122 million of the four-city forecast is reserved for sidewalks, trails, bicycle facilities, streetscapes and landscaping. Maintenance would receive about $86.7 million, while bridge work accounts for approximately $23.5 million.

The remaining money is spread among intersection safety, congestion relief, quick-response work and project management.

What the agreement does not provide is a project-by-project budget, anticipated construction date or uniform level of detail across the four cities. Johns Creek identifies no specific locations. Milton names only a few. Alpharetta and Roswell offer much clearer geographic lists, but group numerous projects beneath shared dollar amounts.

The signed intergovernmental agreement requires annual public reporting after collections begin, including estimated costs, expenditures, completion dates and explanations for projects that fall behind schedule. It also calls for a 15-member citizens’ oversight council if the referendum passes.

Those requirements could make the program easier to follow once the money begins moving. They do not answer every question before voters make their decision.

The November referendum is therefore not simply a choice between transportation investment and no transportation investment. It is also a decision about how much discretion residents are willing to give their cities—and how much specificity they should expect before approving another five years of sales-tax collections.

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