You may recall the announcement a couple of months back about traffic calming measures being implemented in the Ponce Terrace neighborhood behind Taqueria del Sol and 315 West Ponce de Leon Avenue. Well, I saw quite a few bulb-outs going in along Fairview and Oakland Street this morning!
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So what happens to all the bulbouts when the street needs to be re-paved? I see a lot of cracks in the asphalt in this photo. Not sure if it’s all the rain we’ve had recently (cracks and asphalt sinking) and/or the combo of lots of construction/big trucks, but a lot of neighborhood streets are looking pretty rough.
The first median is being installed today. Still time to invest in wheel alignment stocks.
I learned two things from this post:
1) Those things are called bulbouts.
2) The neighborhood I live in is called Ponce Terrace.
That’s right, the Mascara Snake. Fast and bulbouts.
Ah, that’s a squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag.
LOL, the two most recent DM posts on this are the only times I’ve seen the neighborhood referred to as Ponce Terrace. Not that I think it’s a bad name by any means. I’ve always thought it strange that it seems to be officially a part of Clairmont-Great Lakes, though I suppose the Clairmont part of that is the “out.”
In addition to the bulbouts and medians, at least some of the intersections are also getting new sidewalk corners with the accessible bumpy pad thingies (all three Montgomery intersections so far).
Yeah, my wife and I were just discussing how, for better or worse, there’s a Clairmont-Great Lakes feel and comportment and we don’t feel like our little area fits in with that. So in a way it was kind of enlightening to discover this more specific neighborhood name. DM, how did you come to refer to it by this name and do you have a sense of what the boundaries of said neighborhood are?
I think some of this bewilderment stems from moving over from Ponce de Leon Court, which could not be more defined as a neighborhood what with it being one little street complete with it’s own e-mail list, and a local/state/national historic district designation. Kind of craving that sense of identity with our new digs.
I’ll give you another name for them: anti-bicycle devices. The city of Atlanta ruined McClendon Avenue, once a great bike commuting route, with those damn things. They force bikers out into traffic and then the ugliness begins…
McLendon is one of the best bike routes in Atlanta. Besides the occasional distracted driver everyone seems to get it that bikes share the road on this route.
The driver who stopped and pulled a gun on me there because I was “obstructing interstate commerce” certainly didn’t seem to get that.
They’re neither pro-bike nor anti-bike. As a tool, they’re neutral and the goal is to use them appropriately, in ways where their design and execution achieves the results you’re going for. In McClendon’s case, yes, they squeezed the street dramatically and forced cyclists to change the way they ride there. But it was a net positive because the street became considerably more humane for all users in the process. Thus, bikes now share limited space with cars but, because speeds are way down and people drive more carefully, it’s a workable arrangement. And yes, I know that one of the big bike camps thinks this is pure BS but the other one (maybe TomL?) agrees.
If nothing else, it ain’t black and white.
I agree, Scott.
Calming features do not affect my riding style.
First I’ve heard this neighborhood name too. Funny, when I saw the headline, my first thought was. “I saw some of those nuisances in CGLNA last week.” Oh, guess they’re one in the same.
Anyone know how these bulbouts work? I don’t think I’ve seen these before! All we got over here is the standard bump in the road.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_extension
This may be a stupid question, but does anyone know if they are going to plant anything in the “bulbouts”? It looks like they are. I just know that at some point I’m going to forget they are there and run into them. I really don’t like how you are now forced to make a really wide turn to get around them.
I was also surprised to learn our neighborhood has a different name from CGLNA. I feel silly telling people we live in the CGLNA sometimes, but I don’t think anyone would know what I was talking about if I told them Ponce Terrace.
I don’t bother with the names . I just say “the neighborhood behind Taqueria”. People get it right away.
Ponce Terrace is not a new name for the neighborhood. Back in the day before yahoo groups, there was a CGLNA newsletter printed (on paper!) a few times per year and distributed to each house. That is where I first heard Wilton, Oakland, Fairview, Ponce Place, etc referred to as Ponce Terrace.
is that a bulbout or are you just happy to see my scooter?
Rock out with your bulbout.
I expect the City will paint these curbs to enhance visibility.
It would be cool to plant native grasses, ferns, mosses, and other low maintenance, low-growing stuff in these.
It would be nice to have this type of barrier in the middle of East Ponce in front of Taco Mac. Too many people try to turn left into the restaurant (across traffic) and it back us the intersection.