'Boulevard of Opportunity'

There is not a more important stretch of pavement for business in Greater Lilburn than Lawrenceville Highway (U.S. 29).

What happens here, many believe, will impact every aspect of life in Lilburn – new businesses, economic strength, livability, security, transportation and responsible land use.

What the future will hold for the four-mile stretch of Lawrenceville Highway through Lilburn from Jimmy Carter Boulevard to the south to Ronald Reagan Parkway to the north is the subject of a six-month study initiated by the Lilburn Community Improvement District.

That stretch of road is also in the middle of a Georgia Department of Transportation construction project that should be completed in the summer of 2011. .

The purpose of the Highway 29 Corridor Study is to create a vision to transform the aging stretch of road into a "mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly and upscale destination corridor," according to Lilburn CID executive director Gerald McDowell.

The CID calls it "Highway 29: Boulevard of Opportunity."

The Lilburn CID contracted the Atlanta urban architect firm Pond | Ecos to conduct the $120,000 study, $100,000 of which came from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds.

Through meetings with residents, business owners and government leaders, the firm is taking a look at every aspect of the corridor and will present a final report in March on what it believes will be the right direction to take.

"That study is going to be the playbook for the Lilburn CID," said McDowell, who has led the business group since May 2009. The group, which consists of 158 business owners looking to revitalize the struggling corridor, is the fourth CID in Gwinnett (the others are Gwinnett Village, Gwinnett Place and Evermore). "We'll use it to move forward."

Pond | Ecos has already conducted two community meetings to discuss the study. Nearly 40 people attended one at the end of October at Providence Christian Academy, during which the firm revealed findings from a recent survey on what people wanted to see happen along the corridor. Nearly 300 people took the online survey, answering questions on streetscaping, land use, mobility and more.

Pond | Ecos lead consultant Shannon Ketterling presented a Power Point recap of the findings, which indicated that the community wants a complete overhaul.

They want an area that is visually pleasing, has cultural points of interest, more upscale shopping and restaurants, feels safer, can be navigated easily on foot, bike and car, and will be a focal-point for economic recovery of the area.

"You told us there aren't enough of just about everything," Ketterling said of the survey. "And that's all good, because that's important information and we move forward."

Meeting attendees also had a chance to talk with study representatives on specific things they'd like to see, such as pathways to the corridor from surrounding neighborhoods, access roads to businesses parallel to the highway and even light-rail connections in and out of the area.

More public meetings are scheduled, all at Providence Christian, before the final recommendation.

On Dec 16, two alternative plans will be discussed. A draft of the study will be reviewed for more public input on Jan. 27 before the final draft is presented March 3.

"After the final proposal, we'll look at all of the possible projects and say 'this is where we're going to start.' " McDowell said. "It's clear we need to start something here or this area will continue to be bypassed."