Connecting Decatur Neighborhoods
Decatur Metro | October 14, 2010In a city with a population as dense as Decatur, opportunities to connect our isolated, early to mid-century neighborhoods are few and far between. And I’m not just talking about paving new roads through neighborhoods – a near impossible task today – but even offering new pedestrian access between neighborhoods.
But then I came across this “Pedestrian Connectivity Map” (pdf), which was displayed and then edited in marker by residents at the first Community Academy session that tackled transportation issues.
While you’ll notice many proposed edits by residents added with marker (I quite enjoyed the Scott Boulevard “Death Trap” notation) the dashed green line connecting Coventry Road, Oakland and Lamont is actually a hard-coded, “proposed multi-use trail” as indicated by the legend (not seen here).
The city’s Amanda Thompson confirmed my reading of the map, and that this trail was indeed a possibility, especially if it gets the backing of area property owners.
And while I could certainly understand the potential hesitation of people who lived around these parcels, I can’t help but think of the potential benefits. Not only would dog-walkers, runners and general pedestrians be able to do a Coventry/Lamont/Clairemont/Wilton/Oakland loop without ever having to get on Scott Boulevard, but it would create a shorter walking route (via Oakland) to Clairemont Elementary, if Ponce Heights residents were rezoned into that school district.
Quite an interesting and unique opportunity for our neighborhoods to consider!
It looks to me as though the proposed green trail route follows a creek / drainage ditch… one of which is behind my lot on Coventry. It fills with fast-flowing water and seems very dangerous during or after periods of heavy rain. It would be much safer for kids to use the sidewalk. Building something safe and sturdy along the creek may be very expensive.
Almost forgot — I built a deck in my back yard and because it was just within the stream protection buffer zone (75 yards, I think), I had to jump through several city and state hoops. I’m not sure how building a safe walking structure right inside the stream zone could be accomplished in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations.
Is it walkable when there aren’t heavy rains? Like what if I went over there right now to bushwacked my way over to sidewalk-less Lamont/Vidal?
Gauging from Amanda’s response, it didn’t sound like they were planning any bridges or elevated trails, but that’s just a guess.
We need to give those sidewalk-resisters on Lamont/Vidal a choice: They either agree to a pedestrian trail through their backyards or permit a sidewalk on their (well, the city’s) front yard.
It’s steep on one side (where it backs to my lot). The stream is right at the bottom. Then there is a broad, very walkable area that seems to function as an overflow area during storms. Then a walkable berm on the far side. The broad area gets pinched and then reduced to nothing as you get closer to Lamont.
When I first moved in I was alarmed (and impressed) with how quickly it fills up during a storm. Probably 30 inches deep on a few occasions … I suspect when one of the culverts downstream was blocked with debris.
It looks like a soggy mess most of the time. Only lately with the dry weather would I want to walk through there as a shortcut.
I’m not against a city path running through there, but I don’t see how it could be safe or pleasant unless it was raised up a bit on concrete pilings. Everyone along Coventry probably gets the periodic mailings from the city about how it is a flood risk area.
OK, so I misinterpreted Amanda’s initial response. While such a plan is POSSIBLE, how it would be done – or even who owns the property – hasn’t been determined or even hashed out.
Basically there’s no PLAN in place to do this.
So, I guess if the property owners around this wanted to do it, they could possibly could make it happen on their own…but according to Russ, it might take some doing construction-wise.
Could be a good neighborhood project.
My wife could open a Polish beer garden in our back yard to serve the hungry/thirsty walkers…
I don’t want to scare you off with high expectations, but that could be the greatest thing ever.
Agreed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Okocim_beer.jpg
I so would like this kind of pedestrian connectivity wherever it makes sense and homeowners permit. Kids are creating their own unofficial connectivity anyway–trust me! They aren’t going to walk 3/4 of a mile out of their way just because some of Decatur isn’t laid out in a nice grid with short blocks. They find movable chain fences, streams to walk along, logs across streams, etc. I’d much rather that we have safe, maintained connectivity that all can enjoy not just teens in the know.
Also, there has always needed to be a safe pedestrian crossing in the middle of that huge 1/3 mile block of Scott between Clairemont and Coventry. That was especially true when Westchester was an elementary school but is still true because there are a huge number of apartments with walkers on one side and all the Northwest neighborhoods with paths to Westchester on the other side. But this is state highway……any hope of a traffic light and cross walk there? It would really slow down traffic on that part of Scott because that area is a dip between two high points and cars accelerate down the hills from each direction as they prepare for their upward launch up the next hill. It’s a natural instinct, I’ve done it myself even though I know better. It feels like one is taking off of a ski ramp. A traffic signal at the bottom of the basin will completely thwart that instinct to accelerate.
I love the thought of being able to walk downtown from my house on Garden Lane by following a route that does NOT include Clairemont Ave or Scott Blvd!
The wonderful path from Medlock park runs along the creek. I bike there regularly, and it is just beautiful. They built raised wooden parts where there was likely to be flooding. They are in the process of extending it northward. I see runners, walkers, moms with strollers, and bird watchers ( watching the nesting hawks), and all I’ve talked with are thrilled with this beautiful trail. It would be lovely to have something similar here.
Just so you know, the residents of the neighborhood sued PATH, who built that lovely wooden walkway, and PATH had to pay some money. Adjacent homeowners aren’t always welcoming of public pathways near their property.
This map was generated during the Strategic Plan Community Academy session “Going Mobile” last week. Participants were asked to draw in places in the city where they would like to have more connectivity so they can move about town easier. Great examples of this type of connectivity are Hidden Cove Park connecting Scott Boulevard to Westchester Drive to North Parkwood and the connection between Shadowmoor and the Winnona Park playground. We have not fully analyzed the maps yet so I don’t know if the connections drawn on this map are feasible or not. The most important question is “Do residents want to support bicycle and pedestrian connectivity projects?”
For more information on strategic planning check out http://www.decaturnext.com
Thanks!
Amanda Thompson
Planning Director
I recognize that a lot of stuff on this map has been drawn in by residents, but the reason I brought it up specifically was because as far as I can tell that trail was printed onto the map prior to the meeting as a “proposed multi-use trail” (just like all the existing sidewalks).
The green dashes match the legend and other “proposed trails” that are too clean to have been drawn in – like the one behind Glenlake. So…now I’m confused.
Decatur Metro,
You are correct about the route. As the person who prepared the original map I can attest to the fact that a “Potential Greenway Connection” was shown on the base map between Lamont and Coventry. Said connection was taken from page 8.3 of the Community Transportation Plan (http://www.decaturga.com/client_resources/transportation%20plan/chapter%208%20bicycle.pdf)
The CTP does not go into a lot of detail, but if this is a linkage that makes sense to the community it can be included and further defined in the strategic plan. At the upcoming Community Workshop will review this and other potential linkages.
Regards,
Caleb Racicot
Project Manager for the Decatur Strategic Plan Update
Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates
Ah, thanks Caleb. That clears things up a bit!
Thinking on it a bit more, I think this would be the biggest deal of all for the Lamont/Vidal folks, since such a trail would cut the time to walk downtown in half.
Hell, that’s such a benefit it might even raise property values in the neighborhood.
They veto sidewalks that would allow the rest of us to walk more easily through their neighborhood but the city builds a path to enhance their walkability and raise property values. Great deal if you can get it.
I don’t think that a noisy minority of neighborhoods should be allowed to veto something that would have benefitted the city as a whole. That was city property that would have been made into sidewalks and the City was bending over backwards to come up with plans that would have had minimal impact on the residents. Sigh.
Can’t say I was thrilled about that either. But I don’t really think we should cut off our nose to spite our face.
Not saying a path like this shouldn’t happen . Just think it is wrong that the sidewalks didn’t happen.
Yeah, I have to agree with Fifi on this one. Unless it can be definitively shown that this type of stuff benefits more people than the sidewalks, then it should be something the neighbors can chip on for or it is something that would need to be done in many parts of the city.
What if all it takes is the work of neighbors and the skills and machinery of the Public Works staff for a weekend? Oh, and some mulch or something.
Not sure that there are all that many opportunities around the city to do this kind of connectivity. That map that was link to earlier shows a couple others, but this one would connect three neighborhoods currently no connected at all.
I agree with DM, that we shouldn’t cut off our noses to spite our face. The minority of residents who threw a hissy fit about sidewalks could care less if you deny them a greenway in retribution. They don’t care about walking anywhere. They care more about prettifying their homestead and hunkering down in it. People walking around their yards scare them. Meanwhile, the rest of us suffer….
The majority of folks in the Northwest would love sidewalks and greenways; unfortunately, the City did not take a real read of the community will by doing a poll. It just reacted to a petition by a vocal minority. I understand that the City’s desire to not force anything down people’s throats but they should have also taken into account that originally there was a petition in FAVOR of sidewalks. That’s why Garden/Lamont/Vidal were slated high on the list to get sidewalks that would have benefitted everyone trying to get from the west side of town to downtown and the rest of Decatur without using a car. Polls are so easy to do on-line that we should no longer just react to complaints but measure the true community feeling.
Yes yes yes I support it! How about a Decatur “belt line” running through our city that we can use to walk and bike. I’d LOVE it!
Well, it looks like the drawn in path goes either directly through my property on Garden Lane, or just next to it. I’m assuming it would go through the adjacent city-owned empty lot on Garden, which does run along-side the creek, and not through my living room. Although if it does, and we can charge a toll, I may still be for it.
As something to consider, the empty lot is already being used as a cut through for neighborhood kids. It does get serious flooding from time to time (as does my lawn), but the water always recedes as soon as the rains lets up. I guess one question would be how to maintain a path that will definitely be flooded from time to time? Also, can you dredge the Peavine Creek Tributary so that I’m no longer officially in a flood zone? Thanks, that would be awesome.