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Atlanta Hwy Improvement meeting highlights
The meeting was last night. Sorry I forgot to make a post before hand.
Some city council members were in attendance. I do not remember which ones. The speaker said a lot of cities that have had similar meetings have not had involvement from council leaders so this was a big deal.
The improvement stretch is from Ann St/Madison intersection to Eastern Blvd/Faulkner U. area. 3 or so miles which carries 30,000 drivers a day.
The presentation info was still a draft so things can change.
Highlights:
-Atl Hwy is no longer officially a highway meaning it is not controlled by the state. It belongs to the city now. So the city can dictate how the highway will be redesigned. It's a double edge sword because the state has more funding dollars to make improvements that the city so funding will be more difficult to come by not impossible. Right now the highway is a single function road just carrying cars to and from. In the past no one had a plan how the highway should function for the city as a whole.
-The plan is to make the entire stretch a 4 lane highway and reduce speed primarily in the more commercial areas. The area between County Downs to the start of the commercial area near Faulkner will not be as much of a speed concern.
-Side walks/trail will span the whole stretch on both sides. Also buried power lines. Bike lanes in some areas.
-Due to Faulkner area being the widest part of the highway, it will have a 20 ft green space between the 2 lanes on both sides with "slip way" one-way streets for traffic at less than 20 miles/hr with street parking. Large sidewalks. This will eventually encourage businesses to build up to the sidewalks.
-All medians will be reworked/more unified with trees. All the right hand sides will be lined with trees to increase shaded areas so its more comfortable and pleasing the walk the sidewalks. Possibly benches installed other than bus stops.
-Major improvements to bus stops. Covered from sun and rain with bus route info signs. Further away from the streets so to protect riders and make them more inviting. Trash bins will be in place to reduce garbage on the ground. They see bus ridership will hopefully increase from a necessity for those without any other way to viable option to get around even for those who have reliable vehicles. Long term plan. DC's bus system was an example. Side note: The "bus stop" next to Winn Dixie (Dalradia Rd/Atlanta Hwy) had the bench removed. People wait under the tree for shade and dump trash everywhere. Reason is, the American Disabilities act says that sidewalks have to be a certain width in order for a bus stop to be built so the city could not build a stop. The current sidewalk is too small to meet the standard.
-At several cross streets, safer crosswalks some with signals will be constructed.
-Hunter Lane will be improved to make a much easier access to the park/ball fields behind the former Head School. That park is slated for major improvements with walking trails, etc. and they plan to make them in the near future.
-Plans for business improvement areas which were described as a self tax so that the businesses can repaint, improve lighting, repairs, etc. Also encourage a uniformed neighborhood look.
-There will be a standard set for street lighting, sign heights, paint schemes, whatever else that businesses will need to follow.
-Residents will be encouraged to make repairs to homes to make the area more attractive. No mention of the city making funds available to homeowners like Decatur and other cities have done.
Major highlight
-3 nodes are planned, one at Perry Hill Rd/Dalraida Rd., one at Ann St and one at Falkner U. area. They will be inspired by the Cloverdale biz district/L5P/East Atlanta/etc. These areas will have reduces car speeds down to about 30-20 mph to make it safer to walk around. They see restaurants with outdoor dinning, cluster of shops, unique neighborhood establishments, etc. that can be walked/biked to from the nearby neighborhoods. Lots of trees to make it more aesthetically pleasing and cooler in the summer that will encourage people to linger and shop more in the areas. These key shopping destinations will have bus stops.
-Each node may possibly have signage saying which district you are in similar to how San Diego signifies which area you are in.
Important:
This is all long, long term and will be implemented as the funds are available. All this cannot happen without major support from all the neighborhoods that are connected such as Dalraida, Forest Hills, County Downs, all the others I cannot think of. Each association needs to come to a copcesus that this is what they want then put pressure on the city to get this done as funding comes available. Also business/land owners will need encouraging to see this as a good thing.
If no one cares enough this the road will likely stay as it is. Not trying to be preachy but if developers/realtors do not see interest from residents then they will not know. That was stressed by the meeting presenter.
Another note was mentioned was that as the downtown expands and becomes more vibrant, so will the nearby neighborhoods. Due to Atlanta Hwy being a major thoroughfare directly to downtown, they see that as an asset that realtors can use to encourage home ownership in these areas along with being close to one of the three nodes. So younger couples and singles will want to live in Forest Hills or Dalraida to be close to downtown without needing to buy a downtown loft. Land value will increase as a result. It's all long term of course.
Last edited by brad0022; Aug 1, 2012 at 3:49 PM.
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