GDOT Finally Agrees to Build Sidewalk Connection Along Scott Blvd
Decatur Metro | August 2, 2011 | 1:28 pmAt last night’s Decatur City Commission meeting, Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon asked that the commission approve a right-of-way agreement with the Georgia Department of Transportation along the south-side of Scott Boulevard between Garden Lane and the “Ridley Howard House” (which from the street, looks like the apartments near the intersection with Clairemont).
Like anything with involving GDOT, this agreement has been a very long-time coming.
You may recall that way back in April 2008, the Mayor asked residents for input on whether they’d like this final un-sidewalked piece of Scott Boulevard to be poured or if they’d rather have existing sidewalks along the “Boulevard of Broken Westchester Dreams” repaired. A small sample of DM respondents said they’d rather have the south-side sidewalk connection and it looks like the city commission agreed and had been following through with that plan.
The city will pay Atkins North America $14,700 for “right-of-way acquisition services” and approximately $10,000 to acquire temporary easements. GDOT will pour (and pay for) the sidewalks for an estimated $272,000.
The commission unanimously approved the agreement.
Wahoo! This has been long in coming. And just in time for the re-opening of Westchester in a couple of years!
Only to Garden Lane ? ~6-700 feet more they would get to Coventry Rd. Across that street is an existing sidewalk that goes all the way to the island at the Ponce /Scott split on that side of the street.
Surely there are some economies of scale that can be a benefit after going 1,700-1,800 feet and adding another 6-700?
Anyone at the city reading this topic?
Thanks
Wait a minute… there IS a sidewalk from Garden Lane to Coventry Rd—its just mostly a path since the weeds hardly ever get trimmed. My bad….
Yeah, and the cigarette butt litter is gross. At one time, that general stretch of Scott Blvd. was adopted by some group for highway beautification. Maybe a Decatur community group of some sort could adopt it, trim the weeds, and clean it up.
By the way, I think Ridley House is townhomes or cluster homes, not apartments. Westchester Apartments are right across from BFKWE (Building Formerly Known as Westchester Elementary). Ridley House is closer to the intersection.
The Ridley Howard House (condos) is the last buidling on the south side of Scott before Clairemont. It is set off the road a little bit and is built parallel to Clairemont.
If the GDOT is paying for most of this, why are they stopping at the city limits? Why not pave at least up to the Medlock intersection?
I second that! I was going to ask the exact same question.
My guess would be because there’s political will in Decatur to purchase right of way, while there’s probably none on the DeKalb side. No right of way, no GDOT sidewalk.
“for an estimated”
So does that number ($272,000) actually have to paid by someone somewhere (taxpayers), or am I misunderstanding what that means?
I’m sure there are a million & one reasons to justify the $272,000 but I still can’t stop my eyes from popping out of my head when I see a number like for something like sidewalks (and bike lanes before that). I realize there are expenses associated with a project like that, but someone is also making a hell of a lot of money. That amount for sidewalks is just completely perverse. Way past time to revolt against the collusion between private biz and the government, especially when it comes to building roads & infrastructure.
Sick of seeing numbers like that for what aren’t really *major* projects. They’re not repaving 85 for God’s sake.
Go ahead, tell me how naive I am about what things cost…
Contact Hugh Saxon and see if the bid is final and itemized.
Hugh has nothing to do with it – it’s a state project.
Maybe so, but he will certainly know the details, and who someone might need to contact at the state level. The guy is connected !
Not to dismiss your theory of collusion but sidewalks aren’t cheap, which is why a lot of developers don’t like to install them. I imagine it’s labor intensive and labor costs are usually what drives the cost of a project up. Then there’s the cost of the concrete, the design, etc. I also believe it’s more expensive to install sidewalks next to an existing roadway. But I’m sure you could find out the itemized expenses from the DOT, if you are willing to spend the time and effort to track it down.
Nothing is cheap, and they have a right to make money for their specialized services, and I think they should. But there’s a point where the contracts being awarded have less to do with who can complete a quality project at a reasonable cost to taxpayers, and more to do with politics. I’m not suggesting that about this particular project, but it’s still a large number to swallow. Cheaper isn’t always better, but $272,000 for sidewalks?
A quick Google turned up these articles about the interesting way contracts are awarded:
Georgia’s largest road builder takes activist role
http://www.ajc.com/ajccars/content/metro/stories/2009/05/17/cw_matthews_road_legislation.html
Airport runway extension contract raises protests
http://www.ajc.com/business/airport-runway-extension-contract-763108.html
That’s great news. Soon I’ll finally be able to walk to Clairemont Elementary using sidewalks! Would have been so much better to have sidewalks on Lamont – shame the street was railroaded into voting against them.
+ 1
So glad to have sidewalks on that portion of Scott Blvd. I walk my dogs daily and often have to cross Scott precariously.
Btw, I now check Decatur Metro before I check Facebook.
“Go ahead, tell me how naive I am about what things cost…”
Replacing a two and a half car length of concrete driveway easily costs 3000 so 270k isn’t too bad.
Numbers like these ($272000) never fail to stop me in my tracks. I simply can not understand the economics of these projects. Assuming 1800 ft of sidewalk @ $272,000…. my little calculater says that is about $450 for every three foot section. I do not understand….
I’m stunned this is actually happening. Hooray! Now, if we can just get the speed limit down to 35 and actually ticket the cars that zoom through there at 70!