Get a First Look at the Clairemont/Commerce/Church Ped/Bike Improvements Next Thursday
Decatur Metro | January 7, 2012Decatur City Commissioner Fred Boykin writes in to note that next Thursday, January 12th at 6pm, the city will be hosting a second workshop “to discuss alternative plans for pedestrian safety improvements at Clairemont, Church Street and Commerce intersections and Church Street bicycle lanes.”
According to the note on the city’s website…
The city has retained the services of Development Planning and Engineering, a planning and engineering design firm, to help plan the project. The project will be partially funded through grants from the Georgia Department of Transportation. An initial workshop to outline project goals was held in September.
As part of its capital improvements program, the city is considering options for pedestrian safety improvements to the Clairemont Avenue-Commerce Drive and Church Street-Commerce Drive intersections and for bicycle lane improvements on Church Street in downtown Decatur. The purpose of the work is to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians, bicyclists and others using these facilities.
Fred also emphasized the particular importance of this meeting…
It is really important that residents (especially cyclists and walkers) attend this workshop as it will be the first one where the consultants present their proposals based on what they heard from community comments at the September workshop and afterwards. These projects will change the ways folks move around in this part of Decatur and will define the character of those areas for years to come. Community input is key to getting a good result – one that benefits Decatur as a healthy, active community.
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Although not officially a Decatur resident, we spend a lot of time there. (ok, mostly the pubs). But, I applaud Decatur for its forward thinking when it comes to pedestrian, traffic, and bike situations. They have really done a great job of incrementally advancing transportation options. And, Fred has been a great advocate. I bought my first “real” bike from his shop many moons ago. Well done, Decatur.
Those intersections are dominated by parking lots, non-retail buildings and a McDonalds right now, but with smart traffic management and promotion of pedestrian and bikes along that stretch, it’s easy to imagine the ponce/square renaissance we’ve witnessed over the past 15 years taking over that area as well.
I walk through the Clairemont / Commerce intersection every day and it could definitely use some more pedestrian friendliness, particularly crossing the right turn lane off of Clairemont onto Commerce in front of the Baptist church. There is a crosswalk on the pavement there, but no pedestrian signal – you have to cross there to get to the pedestrian signal. People don’t slow down or yield there at all. That being said, I am always impressed by Decatur’s initiative when it comes to encouraging pedestrian and bike friendliness on the roads.
It seems to me that Decatur is shooting itself in the foot with some of these projects. How many bicyclists use the new lanes on Ponce? I have not seen one in my occasional use of that section. But I have noticed traffic is more impeded now. Is that really our goal, to just make Decatur harder to get around in? Several recent changes on Decatur streets force turning vehicles to block through traffic now. Are we using some kind of data analysis to see how functional these ideas really are before moving on the the next step? I do agree that we need better pedestrian access at places like Commerce and Clairmont. But I hope we’re doing some real evaluations and not just pursuing some idealized pie in the sky trendy city.
I agree that Church Street isn’t popular with cyclists, but I walk at least 4 kids to school every day on that route and I can attest that I feel much safer on that sidewalk with the buffer of that extra lane. Before the change, big delivery trucks would speed by with their mirrors just inches from us and the traffic moved much more quickly. It was a horrible experience. Now, we can actually talk to each other without the roar of vehicles going by at 45+ mph – very few people obey the school zone speed limit there.
Yes, vehicles turning left often back traffic up and when I’m in a hurry, I find it just as frustrating as I’m sure everyone else does. But before closing the side lanes, Church Street was simply not walkable in a safe manner.
I always seem to have to answer this question: Every day to and from work, and often on weekends. I even saw another cyclist waiting at one of the MARTA stops along Ponce this morning. Greetings, as always!
On a recent errand (by car), I felt an experiential clarity about these proposed changes: I had chosen my route exactly because of the car-favorable facilities of Commerce Drive. If you revert to slower corners and likely stops, my crossings will go through instead of around.