Roswell Mayor Jere Wood spoke at his annual State of the City address February 9, 2017 at the meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Historic Roswell. As a charter member of the Kiwanis Club, Wood said he makes a point of giving his city update to that organization.

“As much as we hate traffic, it means you are successful,” said Roswell Mayor Jere Wood.

Atlanta will grow by 5.8 million people in the next 20 years and, with Roswell one of the best places to live in the area, many of those people will want to live in or near it.

The economy is good and growing, Wood said. The city’s finances are doing well and no tax increases are expected. However, along with the improving economy come more jobs, which mean more traffic on Roswell’s streets.

The city spent $7 million last year on transportation improvements that are nearing completion, but it’s not enough.

“It’s amazing how far it doesn’t go,” he said, adding an additional $60 million is needed.

“The reason we have a problem in transportation is we did not build new roads,” he said. “We are going to have to dig out and we need to create new connections.”

He said that if someone looked at map of Roswell from 1938, they would see there are no more arterial roads today than there were 78 years ago, and there are fewer bridges, as well.

One way to “dig out” is through a proposed transportation referendum throughout the county. Roswell’s share on the suggested penny tax would be about $120 million. That would fund many new transportation projects, Wood said.

Mayor Wood received a Hixson Fellowship from the club and also holds Kiwanis Legion of Honor status, signifying membership in Kiwanis of over 25 years. 

Mayor Jere Wood Presents State of the City Address to Historic Roswell Kiwanis