The Tunnel Contractor, Obayashi, is proceeding on schedule. The R. M. Clayton Shaft site has been cleared and construction of the vertical Shaft wall should begin during the first week in September. Clearing at the Roswell Road Shaft site should begin in the second week and construction of that Shaft wall should begin in mid October. As soon as the Roswell site is cleared, the plan is to proceed to the Johnson Ferry site and begin the clearing there. By mid November, work on the Johnson Ferry Shaft is planned to  begin.

The City is relying on the DeKalb County Commission to authorize condemnations of DeKalb properties. DeKalb's action (or lack of action) may alter the  schedule at Johnson Ferry.

A neighborhood group in DeKalb County (DC3) has formed and has asked the City to investigate several

options involving reduction and relocation of the Johnson Ferry Shaft to a site on Evergreen Drive. DC3's options deserve far more space to explain than I have room for here. The City's consultant, Jordan, Jones and Goulding (JJG), has provided us with an analysis of these options. JJG's recommendation is that we proceed as planned. If this comes to a vote at our Committee, I will support the JJG recommendation. Aside from cost increases and the potential of delays, I believe that changing the site just substitutes one person's backyard for another - and maybe worse as the Evergreen site looks much more sensitive to me. Please recall that when Obayashi    originally bid to launch the TBM from Johnson Ferry, our Committee rejected that proposal. Similarly, we   believed that we could not, in good conscience, transfer the impacts of excavation and truck traffic from our back yard to someone else's.     

Mike Robinson is the construction engineer on the    Tunnel project and he works for JJG. Mike provided some details concerning the Shaft construction that will affect the impact to our neighborhoods. The Shafts will