Comments on: Church St Goes From Four Lanes to Two

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:21:10 +0000

“what do we have to do to get traffic lights timed”

- unfortunately, we are at the mercy of DeKalb County, who does traffic engineering in the City and who IMHO, have never had a clue about how to set up or maintain traffic signals.

By: Judd Owen

Judd Owen — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:21:39 +0000

I can confirm Bee’s report. I turn left off Forkner (turns into Medlock) onto Church every morning about 8:00. Many days the traffic is backed up well past the city limit.

And there’s something about Church St: cars fill the intersection when the light changes. (Same thing happens at Ponce and Sycamore during heavy traffic. I’ll add that to Bee’s pet peeve list.) At Forkner/Medlock, cars have started trying to cut ahead of the traffic to that light, only to find it’s too backed up to turn onto Church. This only adds the problem for neighborhood folks trying to get out in any direction.

Amazing what going from four lanes to two will do. Slows down traffic, yes, but people need to get into town and I’m sure this wasn’t the intention. On the other hand, Glennlake will need parking this summer (though perhaps not at 8 AM). Alternatives?

By: Bee

Bee — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:56:51 +0000

While I can certainly agree with attempts to slow traffic down, this drastic change is a major traffic snarl during the morning commute. This morning the westbound traffic was backed up all the way past Forkner/Medlock Rd. making it impossible to turn onto Church in that direction. And yes, people are slowing down–almost too slow to keep traffic moving efficiently. Isn’t there a more sane way to slow down traffic without creating more problems further down the road? And while I’m at it–what do we have to do to get traffic lights timed and roads repaired in our fair city?

By: MJK

MJK — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:02:49 +0000

This is pretty cool and Decatur is again leading by example. The City of Atlanta recently completed their Comprehensive Transportation Plan called Connect Atlanta. It too calls for numerous “road diets”. If this works perhaps it will embolden them act on the plan more quickly.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:12:04 +0000

I’ve had a chance to drive the new configuration multiple times at rush hour, in both directions, and am pleased to announce that the sky has not fallen. We have not sentenced ourselves to the terminal stranglehold of gridlock and those who base their degree of spiritual satisfaction on the ability of their car to move around unfettered can breathe a hearty sigh of relief. All is well.

Kidding (sort of) aside, the only difference I’ve noticed is that people are driving a little more slowly and carefully. That beats “maximum automotive throughput” in my book. I hope the changes become permanent.