Wheatley reports over on Fresh Loaf that the Governor has signed off on allowing ARC trade $25 million in stimulus money to MARTA yesterday in exchange for capital improvements around stations.  Along with that the gov also approved another $96 million in stimulus projects yesterday.

The only DeKalb projects on the list were $1.2 million for the Olmsteadian Deepdene Park improvements and $868,00 for the South River Trail.

I’ll try to find out more about the details of Deepdene, but in the meantime Xenia – who had her front yard ripped up last year -  recently wondered in an email whether Decatur/DeKalb could get any funding to make more pedestrian-friendly improvements to Scott Boulevard.

Apprx. one year later, I now have a bunch of anemic weeds (the green stuff that was supposed to be grass seed obviously didn’t take) where I once had a very nice, thick, healthy, monkey grass barrier on the median that protected walkers from Scott blvd. traffic–not far from Venetian pools where foot traffic has increased along with dangerous traffic issues. Question: Is there anything in the works to improve (nonexistent) curbs and sidewalks along Scott given the new opportunities for projects due to Federal stimulus monies?

I recall asking the city about potential stimulus projects in the city limits, but I don’t think I ever received a response from Hugh Saxon, so I don’t have a list of anything off-hand that’s potentially “shovel-ready.”  (Though I do have an extensive list of home improvement projects that are more than shovel-ready.)