Gwinnett County is deepening its investment in the well-being of its community, anchoring its latest initiatives in the reinforcement of judicial services and the enhancement of infrastructure, according to a recent roundup from the local Board of Commissioners last Tuesday; the board greenlit almost $1.4 million in grant funding for its accountability court programs and introduced new contracts aimed at improving the traffic situation across some of its more clogged arterial roads, as per the county's official website.
The grants, sourced from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, mark a continued commitment by the county to back programs that guide residents through the thicket of substance use, mental health challenges, and the long path to recovery, highlighted by over $911,000 set aside for pivotal services such as treatment, drug testing, training for personnel and the funding will help sustain several treatment courts, among them the Adult Drug Court that now enters its 20th year, the DUI Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans' Treatment Court in Superior and State Courts, and the various Juvenile Courts, including the relatively new Juvenile Family Treatment Court which started its operations in 2020 and these programs support scores of participants in their journeys toward rehabilitation.
In a stride towards bolstering services for the county's youth, the Board also sanctioned the acceptance of the Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant totaling just shy of $480,000, and a noteworthy aspect of this grant is its exclusion of the need for a local match; the funds will be funneled into evidence-based programs for medium- to high-risk youth, engaging them in therapies like Multisystemic Therapy, Thinking for a Change, Seven Challenges, and Aggression Replacement Training, to be implemented in cooperation with the nonprofit, CHRIS 180, as detaile by the Gwinnett County website.
The infrastructure aspect took a leap forward with the awarding of a contract to Reedwick, LLC amounting to over $1.3 million, this to expand the county’s Intelligent Transportation System; focusing on Singleton Road and South Norcross-Tucker Road, the project aims to embed fiber optics, cameras, and effectuate signal upgrades that enable real-time traffic monitoring operations, giving drivers the chance to navigate with more fluidity and less of the hassle that comes from outdated traffic systems, while an accompanying agreement will have GDOT chip in $1 million, with Gwinnett covering the remaining $265,000 via SPLOST funds.
Pivoting attention to another pressing traffic issue, the intersection of Hutchins Road and Oak Road will soon see the construction of a roundabout designed both to alleviate congestion and augment safety; with a contract of $2.56 million assigned to Backbone Infrastructure, LLC, the changes will encompass not only the roundabout but also new lighting, drainage, and curb improvements, all bankrolled by the 2023 SPLOST program, as reported by Gwinnett County's official news release.
