Comments on: Residents to Discuss Sycamore Drive Traffic Calming Tonight

By: Deanne

Deanne — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:06:19 +0000

Nooooooooo! There is no “me” in “we”– I don’t share Dave’s view on the “complete street” concept AT ALL!!!

In fact, I LOVE envisioning a “complete street” Sycamore Drive!!! There’s definitely a goal to come out of this meeting with a list of short range safety solutions that we can pursue for immediate implementation. Getting the conversation started on more long range targets is very important too! Sycamore Drive is well traveled by lots of Decatur folks. As a neighborhood, maybe we’ve gotten so focused on the basics that we’re not considering all of the possibilities.

The bicycling community’s insights are especially helpful. ( Boy, it’s something else when y’all come whizzing through– a blur of pack after pack after pack! My littlest kin love it! Even the dog thinks it’s cool! ) Please keep thinking on it– no sense in going after the stuff that doesn’t work.

There are tentative plans to continue this discussion when we get together again to go over the City’s assessment of things. Fred will get to pick the date for the next meeting. (My bad! I took his advice of : “Pick a date & go for it! You’ll never get a date that suits everyone.” D’oh! Picked his vacation week!)

By: DeFoodie

DeFoodie — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:51:44 +0000

Only if there are fatalities. But so far none, so it’s completely safe.

By: cubalibre

cubalibre — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:54:39 +0000

Heh! If we wait long enough, I’m betting someone will come up with the answer.

By: TreesRock

TreesRock — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:04:43 +0000

The problem is the reflectors don’t reflect in the day, they blend in, concrete bulb outs can also be problematic in that they squeeze bikes into traffic often without the biker or automobile noticing creating a “sucide” squeeze effect. It is funny that you mentioned Church (temporary turtles) and W. Ponce as the two examples, and my experience as biker I have always disliked them. That said, I prefer the turtles on Church to the former four lane approach. If I had to choose, I would take the turtles as a temporary solution until the sidewalks are widened for a larger landscape strip. I like the officer Bob solution with a longerterm more expensive option of widening the landscape strip. That said the benefits reaped from a landscape strip would exceed the cost over time with water absorbtion, lower level ozone pollution reduction, property value increase, and increased traffic safety.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:22:44 +0000

I knew what you meant. I was just teasing.

I can see how auto dealerships would cause an increase in traffic and unsafe driving. That makes sense, especially since I recently bought a car and they had me drive through a residential area for part of my test drive.

By: Ridgelandistan

Ridgelandistan — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:48:04 +0000

You are correct. That should have been Church Street. No way to edit once posted.

By: karass

karass — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:33:11 +0000

Well, the helmet law only applies to bicycles but you’d think that Decatur “helicopter parents” would at least give their flying babies a parachute, if not a helmet. Maybe some of the baby-launching parents are “free-range parenting” types, as in “what’s the typical range that one can launch a baby at 45 mph on Sycamore?”

By: cubalibre

cubalibre — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:21:54 +0000

Ah, but shouldn’t ALL those babies have helmets? I mean, I’d have thought Decatur parents were more conscientious.