Comments on: West Howard Avenue Speed Limit Going Back Up…Sorta

By: Ridgelandistan

Ridgelandistan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:24:34 +0000

Since the purpose, start point and destinations for nonmotorized transportation are exactly the same as that for motorized transportation. It makes no sense (even if it were physically possible) to build seperate but equal facilities that you describe. Secondly, how would the construction of such a project result in lowered driving speeds?

By: Stan

Stan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:38:16 +0000

Constructive idea: If the city has no influence over the road itself, is there any way to make parking on these roads legal? Or is it already?

If homeowners on these streets left their cars parked on either side of the street, it may have a traffic calming effect. Seems to work in the Great Lakes area, though I realize the road design is totally different there.

By: Stan

Stan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:30:46 +0000

“So the only means the city has to enforce the speed limit is enforcement measures like radar.”

Actually, no, the city could invest in alternate routes for non-motorized transportation that are not on the state’s property or that don’t violate the DOT’s engineering principles. Or work with the legislature and DOT to change the state’s mind on “thinking that is out of date.”

But, tickets are easier. What part of the city budget is that Fred? Is it part of the nearly 5% of the budget that is “penalties, fines and forfeitures?”

By: Writerchad

Writerchad — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:04:16 +0000

Thanks for the S. Candler shout-out, Fred. My home faces S. Candler and I live painfully close to the area now being widened near Shoal Creek. I attended an open house at Decatur High many years ago and went on record in opposition to the widening. Basically, it was lost breath. ‘Thanks for your input,’ was about the extent of it. I was told the widening was necessary as a result of numerous wrecks caused by drivers turning left on Midway Road. In my nearly ten years in this home, I’ve never seen or heard of a single wreck.
The widening is really the most inane maneuver. At the top the hill, near Pharr, S. Candler is two-lane. The street widens to three-lanes. And then reverts back to two-lane just past the bridge. This is all within in around a .10 of mile. Drivers headed south on S. Candler treat the 3-lane section as a fast pass area, as though this residential street is a mountain highway and they desperately need to get behind a slow-moving semi-truck. The construction has already defaced the profile of the street. Lovely old trees uprooted. Front yards reduced to the size of postage stamps.
As a result of my years on this street, I am perhaps the calmest, slowest-moving driver I know. When taking surface streets, I always remember that just beyond that sidewalk is a family in a home. And that street is more theirs than mine.

By: Deanne

Deanne — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:21:30 +0000

*Definitely should have mentioned that this was a Fred trip. NOT a junket!

By: Deanne

Deanne — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:38:14 +0000

At Monday’s Commissioners Meeting, Fred shared more info from his recent DC trip. Other cities are trying some really cool things. Definitely worthy of a DM post.

LOVE! y’all’s Burma Shave signs! Let’s put ‘em up all over Decatur!

By: Parker Cross

Parker Cross — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:20:04 +0000

Here’s one:

If driving slow sticks in your craw
Reflect on Newton’s second law

By: Fred Boykin

Fred Boykin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:19:00 +0000

Stan,

We’re not saying the same thing here. My point is roadway design since the 1950′s has favored the automobile over other modes. The engineers designed the roads to be safer for drivers – wide lanes, wide turning radii, “vehicle recovery zones” and so on. The intent was to protect drivers from accidents, the unintended consequence was higher vehicle speeds. Folks started driving faster because the road design allowed them to do so.

It would be great if we could traffic calm our major streets, but guess what – the GDOT won’t let you touch a state road without getting their approval (they turned the City down on the request to lower the speed and still be able to run radar). Why? Because the 85% figure is 44 MPH, which is within limits for a 35 mph zone. That’s just stupid.

The GDOT is still focused on moving as many vehicles as quickly as possible with as few interuptions as possible (read pedestrians and cyclists) from one point to another. To them, roads like S. Candler exist in a realm that ignores local context. It as if it was laid out in farmland in rural Georgia with only the cows for company. They make very little effort to allow a community to deal with a street set-up like this once it enters the city limits.

To my mind, that sort of thinking is way out of date.

So the only means the city has to enforce the speed limit is enforcement measures like radar.