DeKalb County is launching its largest road repaving program in a decade, spending $87 million to resurface 230 lane-miles of residential streets over the next two years, county officials announced Wednesday.
The program — funded by a mix of the county’s 2024 SPLOST (special-purpose local-option sales tax), state gas-tax revenue, and federal infrastructure dollars — is the first time DeKalb has invested at this scale in residential paving since 2016.
What’s in the program
The first wave, beginning July 15, covers:
- 85 lane-miles in south DeKalb (District 4 — covering parts of Decatur, Belvedere Park, and Panthersville)
- 62 lane-miles in central DeKalb (District 3 — Tucker, Clarkston)
- 48 lane-miles in east DeKalb (District 5 — Stone Mountain, Lithonia)
- 35 lane-miles in north DeKalb (Districts 1 and 2 — Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville)
The full list of streets will be published on the county’s website July 1, with a public-comment period through July 8.
“This is the most ambitious residential paving program DeKalb has ever run. We’re trying to catch up on a decade of deferred maintenance, and the SPLOST is finally giving us the revenue to do it.”
— DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson
How it works
The county is using a condition-based scoring system rather than political allocation. Each road segment gets a pavement condition index (PCI) score from 0 to 100, derived from automated road scans done by the county’s public works department. Streets with PCI below 55 are prioritized for repaving.
The scoring system, modeled on one used by the City of Atlanta since 2021, is meant to take some of the guesswork — and constituent pressure — out of which streets get fixed.
“We know some people are going to feel their street should have been first,” Davis Johnson said. “The PCI doesn’t lie, and the maps will be public.”
Timeline
| Phase | Months | Lane-miles | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | Jul–Sep 2026 | 85 | South DeKalb |
| Wave 2 | Oct–Dec 2026 | 72 | Central + East DeKalb |
| Wave 3 | Mar–Jun 2027 | 73 | North DeKalb + tie-ups |
| Final phase | Jul–Dec 2027 | TBD | Touch-ups + second-pass |
What residents should expect
- Detours will be posted 72 hours in advance of any work starting on a given street.
- Driveway access will be maintained whenever possible; full closures are limited to 2–4 hour windows during paving.
- The county is phasing out temporary patches that have been used in recent years as a stopgap — those are being replaced with full resurfacing.
- Speed limits in work zones drop to 25 mph, with fines doubled.
How to report a problem street
DeKalb residents can check whether their street is on the planned list at dekaltcountyga.gov/paving starting July 1. Streets not on the list can be nominated for the 2027–28 wave through a citizen-portal form — the first time the county has run an open nomination process for paving.
Elena Vásquez covers Atlanta city hall and transportation for WACN 21. Reach her at evasquez@wacn21.com.
