Decatur Crossing: New Traffic Light on Scott Boulevard and the Partial Closure of Blackmon Drive
Decatur Metro | July 8, 2015 | 4:36 pm
A new post on the Medlock Area Neighborhood Association website sums up the recent approval of Decatur Crossing Phase II rezoning request by the DeKalb Commission and points out a few, very notable nuances in the agreement – which includes 27 conditions negotiated by the Cross-Neighborhood Committee.
Among the most noteworthy changes coming, Fuqua will add a new traffic light on Scott Boulevard at Blackmon Drive, as shown in the map above. Fuqua will also extend Blackmon Drive as the “the main road” through the development.
In response to concerns about cut-through traffic on the existing stretch of Blackmon Drive, a condition passed that Blackmon Drive would be partially closed to traffic with no entrance from Scott Boulevard and only a right turn allowed off of Blackmon onto Scott. See the map below for detail, courtesy of MANA.
MANA also provided an updated timeline on the Decatur Crossing project…
Demolition for Phase I has begun and is expected to be completed in August. Construction on the new apartment building is expected to begin in September and last 18 to 20 months.
As for tenants, none have been announced yet but MANA sums it up thusly…
The site plan includes a “natural grocery store,” restaurants (one with a patio on the park), including one drive-through restaurant which is conditioned as a “deli-café,” banks, retail, office, and 450 apartments. A portion of the apartments will be reserved as workforce housing** as negotiated in our contract. The development also includes tree-lined sidewalks around the entire perimeter and throughout the development as well as an almost one-acre park…Jeff Fuqua has said that it will be a mix of local and national retailers. Please note that this site plan was modified before the final hearing and differs slightly from the final site plan included in the private agreement with MANA.
If the new light made the neighborhood happy, then fine. I imagine most on Blackmon go to the light at Medlock to head east on Scott.
Was it this project or the Walmart project that included completing the sidewalk on Scott Blvd from Medlock to Decatur city limits? Any idea on its ETA? Or did I just make that up…
I realize this is not a new question, but how is all of the Wal Mart traffic plus much of the Suburban plaza traffic going to efficiently flow through a one lane entrance from North Decatur road? I’m not a traffic engineer, but that road is already a mess.
And with the frequent traffic of a grocery store on the other side of the street… ick.
My biggest concern is whether there is sufficient setback from the road on these new developments to allow the inevitable widening of this little stretch of N. Decatur.
Could someone explain to me the point of having a light at Blackmon and Scott. If no left turns from westbound Scott are allowed and no left turns onto Scott from Blackmon are allowed, then we have a traffic light that will only allow drivers to turn right off Blackmon onto eastbound Scott. There is already plenty of time to do that safely when the light a few yards away at Scott/North Decatur/Medlock is red on Scott.
I understand the need for a light to allow Walmart traffic to enter North Decatur, but the second light, at Blackmon and Scott, seems to serve no useful purpose.
(Looking again, I see that the light in question is identified as being useful for pedestrians. At that site, what possible pedestrians could there be crossing Scott?)
The developer wanted the light to safely get traffic in and out of their development. The Medlock Neighborhood simply had to react to that. Blackmon Drive, which is a very small and narrow street already has a terrible cut through problem – so bad that residents cannot back out of their driveways during rush hour. Medlock cannot safely handle the existing cut through traffic, let alone the additional traffic which will be generated by Walmart and Fuqua’s development.
We do however see benefit of a signalized crosswalk at this intersection . The residents in Medlock, which has 1400 homes, are relieved to have a safe way to cross Scott Blvd. Many residents would walk or bike to Suburban Plaza, Fuqua’s Development, or even to work if they didn’t have to cross at the 6-way intersection.
Anything that will slow traffic on Scott is fine with me. If they can’t do anything else to control the speeding, then more stop lights are welcome.