Decatur Public Works-S Smith assigned this issue to Decatur Public Works - J Bell

The planter at Drexel and Howard in front of the pedestrian crosswalk will obscure the pedestrians from east bound traffic. Get the planters out of the road and yes, please change those colors, they're more of a visual distraction to drivers.

Thank you for the feedback.

It wasn’t feedback. I asked for access to city documents. Please do not close this case until you provide an answer.

Mr. Gagnon,

I can meet with you to discuss your questions and I can be reached at 404-377-5571 or my office is located at Public Works at 2635 Talley Street, Decatur, Georgia 30030.

This project started at the request of numerous residents who were concerned over vehicular speeds along the corridor and the difficulty for pedestrians, specifically Safe Routes to School students, to cross four lanes of speeding traffic. The City worked with a transportation design and engineering firm to develop ways to improve the bicyclist and pedestrian safety as well as slow traffic along the West Howard Avenue corridor.

Numerous community meetings were held with city residents at the Friend’s Meeting facility before recommending a final plan for construction before the City Commission. It was our intent to develop a semi-permanent solution knowing that we were going to be working on a re-design of the intersection of Atlanta Avenue / Howard Avenue / College Avenue. The most important goal of the plan is to improve the safety of cyclists and pedestrians throughout the corridor.

I am not familiar with any seating being installed, only planters and lane dividers.

Great. I will be in touch once I’ve conferred with my neighbors. In preparation please gather all data you are using to support your position that the street is somehow safer. We also want to see all documentation of diligence and impact studies. You can also provide links here to this documentation as the city is actively monitoring this thread.

Chris, You should also ask to see the requests by concerned residents. I suspect you will find that many of them are not your neighbors and are likely alternative transportation advocates whom are not impacted by this project on a daily basis.

Completely agree. We’re gathering the opinions of all affected parties to include so far: residents, school bus drivers, crossing guards, commuters, owners and customers of our local West Howard businesses, delivery service drivers (UPS and FedEx) and Marta officials.

We’ll then be seeking the opinions of Decatur PD and neighboring transportation authorities to assess their involvement in the planning and execution of this project.

We are building a coalition to assess the issues created by this project and to affect a change in direction.

I’m hopeful we will be working collaboratively with the city and am looking forward to a vibrant dialogue.

It’s time to unify our voices. Have ideas or want to help? Email me: cmgagnon@gmail.com

Hi David. I just watched a driver attempt to snake through your ridiculous planters to get into Valero. She almost hit two of them and an oncoming car. Are you at all aware of the liability position you’ve put the city in when this ridiculous project inevitably causes property damage or injury? Please describe in detail the municipal code that allows you to block access to businesses with you ‘art’ installations. Please provide to this forum the city’s position on its newly increased liability due to your project. What is the impact to budgeted reserves for legal liability? Where is the funding coming from to cover this liability? Who made these decisions and why has none of this information been provided to city residents?

Agreed, I would like to see data on how safe or dangerous this section has become since this change. I frequently travel this corridor, and now find that it seems less safe. Not sure if you found a budget lot of planters, but the colors were definitely not well thought out - they don’t compliment each other or the surrounding area AND are a visual distraction while driving. I was wondering why I’ve been noticing them so much (not a good thing while driving), and Victoria got it! Why couldn’t those traffic calming ramps be installed, like the ones near the railroad tracks? Regarding safety, don’t students cross at the traffic lights? They even have crossing guards. When I was young, I walked across a 4-lane highway with traffic lights (2-3 times the size of this road) to get to school without a crossing guard and this was never a problem. The Atlanta Ave. intersection is a mess and needs to be redone. Did your traffic data use projected numbers to include the addition of many more people that will be moving into this intown area over the next year? Just look at all of the new condo and apartment developments being built within a 5-mike radius. The traffic WILL increase. Another unintended consequence of this safety project is that it also now makes it more challenging for people to travel to Decatur. If the City of Decatur wants the businesses to thrive, removing one lane into the city was a really bad idea. I can’t wait to see what ideas come up if a true survey of all the Decatur residents, businesses, including Agnes Scott, is completed. Surveys can be mailed to all residents, information can be posted in surrounding businesses with links to the survey, and surveys can easily be emailed to all Decatur business owners via state business data. Thank you for listening. Let’s FIX this fiasco!

I live on the corner of Chief Matthews and W. Howard. I get to experience the planters and the effects of their placement everyday pulling out of my dead end street. One year later-- multiple recycling bins aka planters are missing because of various car wrecks on W. Howard. Foliage in the "self-sustaining" bins dead. All bike -riders, walkers and joggers still use the sidewalk. I have witnessed ONE biker, ever, riding on the path created next to the bins. The path next to bins unkempt, dirty, with weeds growing in cracks. And, trafffic, same as it ever was--too fast, too much, unquelled.

All this "quelling traffic" issue needed was a strategically placed police car that actually pulled over drivers who drove over the speed limit or a couple of radar speed limit signs, especially since the bins are temporary. It would have cost the taxpayers alot less.

Thank you