The Atlanta Department of Transportation and the office of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ announced last week that the much anticipated DeKalb Avenue Safety Improvements will officially begin after a ground breaking ceremony tomorrow, Wednesday, September 22nd at 11:30 AM at the Inman Park/Reynoldstown MARTA station. ATLDOT added on Twitter that folks should “join us for an afternoon featuring your favorite blues hits” during the celebration.
The announcement is a decidedly cathartic event for all involved, particularly the pedestrian, bicycling and urbanism advocates have been lobbying for safety improvement to the notorious corridor since 2014. The DeKalb Street project was originally conceived and funded through the Renew Atlanta Transportation Plan in 2015, however funding for the Complete Street on DeKalb Avenue was cut in 2019, leaving only resurfacing and restriping as immediate improvements. Only the design for a future Complete Street was in the budget until this June, when the Atlanta City Council unanimously approved $5.4 million for safety improvements for the corridor.
The section Decatur St/Dekalb Ave slated for improvements is a 4.7-mile corridor from Peachtree Street to Ridgecrest Road. According to a report from Urbanize Atlanta, the specific improvements will include the removal of DeKalb Avenue’s reversible middle lane, road resurfacing, a dedicated left turn, bike lanes along certain sections and sidewalk repairs throughout. However this phase does not include the separated shared-use path among other improvements that had been depicted in early renderings of the project.
After the city council’s unanimous vote in June, Mayor Bottoms’ said that “making the road inclusive for drivers, bike riders, and pedestrians will give all residents more secure ways to get around and ultimately make our city safer.”
Road inclusivity was a main focus for activists lobbying for the improvements, led in large part by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. In a statement on their blog, the ATL Bike Coalition said that “while the newly designed street won’t include everything that residents, neighborhood organizations, active transportation commuters, or elected officials wanted, it should enhance the safety and well-being of people living on DeKalb Ave as well as those who use it to commute or visit its small businesses.” The blog post goes on to detail what activists wanted and compare it to what the City is actually provided in granular detail. It also affirms their commitment to eventually achieving the original Complete Street vision, for which the design phase has already been funded.
One Response
Hope this gets done right. GaDot did Memorial Dr island’s and landscapes by the capital and it looks like crap today.