From the Alliance to Improve Emory Village via Clairmont Heights Civic Association…

Georgia Power is completing its phase of roadwork in Emory Village, which includes the burial of utility wires in a new duct bank under the street. The new conduit should be in place by Nov. 1. Separately, the Emory Village roundabout and streetscape work is expected to be open to bid by contractors in November with construction starting in early spring 2010.

Enough talk!  Just do it already! 

OK, I’m a little late with this, but perhaps I can still save one or two of you from making the worst decision of your day.

Unless you’re inexplicably compelled to spend countless stationary minutes/hours behind the wheel in beautiful Druid Hills, stay the heck away from Emory today.

And in case you shyed away because of traffic or rain, you’ll be able to watch the whole ceremony HERE after 2pm.

If you thought highway gridlock was bad, then you’ve never been stuck going east on N. Decatur on a weekday afternoon.

Paula sums up the firsthand experience nicely in a recent letter to our CEO…

Dear Mr. Ellis:

My husband commutes by shuttle bus to Emory from Decatur, a distance of approximately 4 miles. Lately, the commute home has been taking 50 minutes or more. This is due almost entirely to the mis-timed traffic lights on North Decatur Rd at Clairemont Rd. Because the light in front of the McDonald’s entrance on North Decatur Rd. is so long and improperly synchronized with the light at the intersection, very few cars can get through in any one light cycle. As a result, it can take 30 minutes or more simply to travel the one mile from Emory to Clairmont Rd.

I would very much appreciate it if you could arrange to have the timing on these lights adjusted, or direct me to the appropriate official.

I certainly concur that the “McDonald’s light” is an absolute annoyance, the bigger challange is having one of the state’s largest employers, smack dab in the middle of a residential district.   While plans are still “go” for a roundabout at the university’s main entrance, no amount of road tweaking can quell the mob that is coming and going from campus all day long.

What IS the answer?  Long-term, Decatur is looking into the feasibility of light-rail or signal coordination for buses between Emory and Decatur (see page 23 of the Streets section of the Community Transportation Plan), but even that won’t eliminate Emory’s problem.  What else can be done?  Anything?