Maria Saporta is quite correct when she notes that the main focus of reporting on T-SPLOST funding thus far has been on the big name projects, which make up 85% of total funding.  But what about the other 15% (approx. $1.1 billion), which will be divided up amongst the metro’s local communities?

Saporta reports that the City of Atlanta is talking about dividing its share of the $1.1 billion into three categories: “High Profile” projects, individual district projects and “opportunistic reserves”.  The floated DeKalb Avenue project would fall into the first category.  According to the article, upgrades for these “high profile projects” would include…

…pavement resurfacing, sidewalk repair and installation, streetscape improvements, lighting, bicycle facilities, pedestrian crossings, on-street parking and transit amenities.

There are obviously a lot of ifs and maybes before anything would happen, not least of which is the T-SPLOST passing in July, but it’s certainly nice to at least know about these things. Or maybe you don’t want to be teased/taunted with the info?

Either way, I’m checking with Decatur’s city staff to see if we already have a plan in place for how our chunk of the funding would be spent inside the city’s borders.  And how much that chunk would be!

Do you love transportation?  Not the kind of wind-in-your-face-winding-through-the-Smokies-on-your-Harley-type transportation.  I mean DISCUSSING transportation options.  You do?  Do you also love interactive maps?

If you answered YES to both of those questions, first take a moment to reconsider your passions, and when that doesn’t work check out this wicked, new interactive map showing all the proposed Atlanta metro T-SPLOST projects in their color-coded glory!   (Red means transit, blue means roads, green means bike/ped).

When you click on a project on the map you get a little synopsis off to the right of the page.  For example, here’s one for the green pitchfork of Decatur streets seen in the screen-grab above…

This project complements the Clifton Corridor transit project by providing sidewalks and bicycle lanes on Claremont Road and Church Street, which will link with a planned transit station in the vicinity of Claremont Road and North Decatur Road. Additionally, this project improves signal timing and key intersections on Commerce Drive. The total cost of the project is $5,000,000, which will be entirely funded under TIA.

Pretty neat, right??  And if you zoom out to take in the full view of all the red/blue/green projects, the entire metro area looks like a giant, throbbing heart!

This sounds fun for Emory-ish commuters.  From the Clairmont Heights Civic Association’s website…

From Emory:  This month Atlanta Gas Light began a pipeline replacement project—a non-Emory project that will produce one-lane closures in the Emory area including Clifton, Houston Mill and North Decatur roads––that will last through August.

Replacement work will occur during daytime and evening hours and, where possible, AGL will install the pipe outside of the roadway along the public right-of-way. Any work requiring a lane closure will follow DeKalb County traffic control guidelines with signage, cones and flaggers to assist traffic flow. AGL  is coordinating with the Emory to minimize inconveniences to commuters and to avoid work during Commencement activities. Cliff shuttle routes will not be impacted by this project (http://emory.transloc.com/)

AGL project map:   www.aglc.com/prp.  Questions:  AGL  (404) 584-3039 or .

Click over to the Clairmont Heights website for a little chart showing the anticipated project start/end times for the various roads.

@HausZweiHomes sends in this little report via Twitter…

Midway & S Candler-After 3 yrs of construction, moving bridge & roads Midway Woods has new traffic light

That would be HERE for those who are geographically challenged like me.

UPDATE:  Another update from Rails to Trails indicates that the amendment, which would have restored funding to Safe Routes, Rails to Trails, etc, failed to pass by a vote of 27 to 29.

Julie sent in this alert that she received from Rails to Trails yesterday…

We aren’t exaggerating when we say this ask has never been more urgent.

Please read more and take action now.We have until 4 p.m. EST today to have our thoughts heard.

Tomorrow, Thursday, February 2, the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on our nation’s next multiyear surface transportation bill.

There’s no way to spin this: From the perspective of trails, walking and bicycling, the bill is a total disaster.

Among its worst features are:

• It eliminates dedicated funding for the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program—the nation’s largest funding source for trails, walking and bicycling. (Terrible news, but we expected it.)
• It removes the rail-trail category from TE eligibility.
• It completely eliminates funding for the Safe Routes to School program.
• It eliminates funding for bicycle and pedestrian coordinators at state DOTs.

But there’s still a chance…

Representatives Tom Petri (R-Wis.) and Tim Johnson (R-Ill.) are considering the introduction of an amendment in the committee that would right many of the bill’s wrongs.

But they need to hear from other committee members that their amendment has a fighting chance.

Please: Take two minutes and ask your representatives to defend trails, walking and bicycling. We only have until 4 p.m. EST today, so any additional support you’re able to gather will make an enormous difference!’

A follow-up email breathed a cautious sigh of relief noting that an amendment saving the programs mentioned above had already been drafted.  According to Rails-to-Trails “Due to its last minute filing and its becoming the major focus of attention for tomorrow’s debate and vote on the bill, congressional discussion on the amendment will go late into the night.”

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see at this point.

There’s been a lot of commentary about Decatur’s wayfinding signs around the city since they were installed a couple years ago.

A lot of it has been about the “look” and placement of the signs themselves, but not much has been said about the overall effectiveness of the program itself.

As a recent post on the Atlantic Cities blog notes, creating a successful wayfinding system is actually quite complex to implement properly.

“Architectural signage and wayfinding isn’t about building a nicely designed sign,” says Sue Labouvie, one such expert whom we tapped to explain the science of helping us find our way in the city. “It’s about the information content and the analysis of the space or place that you’re trying to move people through, and coming up with a strategy of how you make this big complex thing simple and understandable to the user.”

How do you clarify to people what a city is about, how they should move through it and where they can find all the really important stuff? Or, put another way: How does a city do this, all on its own, so that I don’t have to ask a knowledgeable-seeming stranger on the street for directions?

Philadelphia divided its downtown into five different color-coded sections on their street maps.  New Orleans signage allows for multiple lines of text to describe a destination.

With that in mind, how successful do you believe Decatur’s wayfinding system has been?  And more importantly if you see room for improvement, what could be done to build off of Decatur’s current wayfinding signage?

Are there urban elements of Decatur that are still intuitive to the average pedestrian?  We don’t have a church at the top of a hill, but we have the Old Courthouse.  Would color-coding the city help visitors find their way around?  Should chosen destinations have more prominent signage of their own?

Photo courtesy of City of Decatur’s website

Click the image above to enlarge it.

From the all-knowing Decatur Minute…

South McDonough Street will be closed between Griffin Circle and Lenore Street beginning Jan. 17 from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. The work will take no longer than 21 consecutive days and homeowners will be able to access their driveways during construction. The road will be reopened every night and early morning between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact John Madajewski, P.E. Senior Engineer/CRS Coordinator at 678-553-6530 or at john.madajewski@decaturga.com.

A note from City Schools of Decatur notes that this closure will likely impact “the arrival and dismissal of several of our schools, especially College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center, Winnona Park Elementary and Renfroe Middle School.”

CSD recommends allowing an extra 15 minutes in the morning when dropping off your child or multi-childs at any of these buildings of learning.  Bus routes will also be affected.

Decatur 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.

Those who travel East College Avenue or South Candler Street (including “tiptoe” in the FFAF Comments) may have noticed something interesting this week: Pedestrian islands! Why interesting? Because, while we may think of these thoroughfares in townie-terms like “avenue” and “street,” the Georgia Department of Transportation sees them as highways — 278 and 155 respectively — and, as far as they’re concerned, you don’t go encouraging people to walk across a highway.

In short, they’re not big on context. That’s why getting DOT engineers to make pedestrian-friendly design modifications that favor lower speeds inside our city limits is a tall order. Tall enough that most communities would simply write-off such aspirations as impossible.

Of course, Decatur’s not most communities, and we just so happen to have what it takes to make the seemingly impossible happen: Cooperation and tenacity.

According to Assistant City Manager – Public Works, David Junger, after years of calling, cajoling and kvetching instigated by Decatur resident and Agnes Scott professor Chris DePree, the city began formal efforts to improve both areas about 18 months ago. Multiple meetings and field studies were held, city commissioners lent their support, audacious ideas got tossed around and, to their credit, folks from the DOT kept showing up.

“Always operating by the book,” notes Junger, “but never saying no.”

Finally, concepts were approved and designs drawn up. Now being installed are mid-street islands designed to slow traffic through the perception of narrowed lanes and, in the case of East College Avenue, to provide mid-street refuge for pedestrian crossings. As a result, those crossing College will no longer have to navigate three lanes of moving traffic in one broad motion. Instead, they’ll cross one lane, be allowed to pause, then cross the other.

On top of that, Agnes Scott picked up the tab on a totally groovy, pedestrian-activated, rapid flashing beacon system for both crossings. Walkers press a button, flashing lights scare the bejeesus out of approaching motorists, everyone slows down and nobody dies.

So, what’s it take to get the mighty DOT moving in the right direction? Resident activists, city commissioners and staff, stake-holding partners and a willingness to stick with it. Nice!

Though it dropped three points from last year, Decatur remains Georgia’s “most walkable” city according to Walkscore.com for a second-straight year.

The city received a score of 63, 4 points ahead of the second-place North Druid Hills neighborhood.

The city of Atlanta, which obviously has some very walkable neighborhoods, received an overall score of 53, due to the large areas outside of the city’s core, which are quite unwalkable.  Atlanta ranked 20th among the nation’s largest cities in walkability.