Garden City lays out Chatham Parkway, Telfair Road and drainage work for Districts 1 and 2

Leon Davenport, the city’s consultant engineer, told Garden City residents on July 2026 that the city has several road and drainage projects planned for Districts 1 and 2 to address long‑standing pavement and stormwater problems. "The first out of these projects is the Chatham Parkway improvements," Davenport said, listing resurfacing and restriping between the DOT project limit and the city boundary and repairs to a signal at Chatham Parkway and Telfair Place.

Davenport said the Chatham corridor shows pavement deterioration near I‑16 and that the signal actuators at Chatham Parkway and Telfair Place are not cycling properly. He said the city will repair the guardrail at the intersection and package some smaller road repairs together to gain economies of scale.

On Telfair Road, which Davenport described as the city’s major truck route, he said the city intends a full‑depth reconstruction of the pavement and heavier pavement or concrete at the intersection to resist frequent truck turning damage. "We'll most likely be doing either extremely heavy pavement or concrete in the intersection," Davenport said, adding that the work will include widening the intersection throat so trucks can remain on pavement rather than curbs or shoulders.

Davenport moved from pavement to drainage, describing work on Salt Creek and tributaries. He said crews will clean ditches—particularly along Pineland—and work downstream toward canal outfalls, but cautioned there is no single solution to Salt Creek's drainage and that easements will be needed to route water to the canal. "The city attorney and I will be working to try to obtain the easements that we need in order to make that happen," he said.

Davenport noted that the city has a maintenance agreement with Chatham County for larger canals (he cited the Talmadge and Horseshoe canals as examples) but stressed the city must preserve access and secure rights‑of‑way in some upper reaches where blockages exist. He said upper reaches near the railroad south of Tallmadge Avenue are particularly clogged and inaccessible, a concern during hurricane season.

The consultant encouraged residents to provide local feedback because engineers do not live in every neighborhood. He said residents can use the city’s website comment card or meet with him after the meeting to review project plans.

Resident questions at the town hall pressed staff on timing and coordination. John Bethune asked Davenport for a tentative schedule for the Chatham Parkway work and urged the city to coordinate with GDOT to resurface the outside lanes of US‑80 and add lighting and sidewalks at the Farmers Market overpass for pedestrian safety. Davenport indicated he would meet with residents to review plans.

City staff said they will pursue required easements and coordinate with county partners where applicable; no final construction schedules were announced at the meeting.