UPDATE IV: AJC reports the Southbound Connector has reopened.

UPDATE III: The device has been detonated, and the police are now working to reopen the connector, but are strongly advising that you avoid Midtown/Downtown Atlanta.  At this point you better break out your Waze app, or Google Maps, or head over to the GDOT website because it’s going to be a rough commute home for many.

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Lately around Decatur it’s felt like we’re in the midst of a season of paving, as the whole of College Ave and selected neighborhood streets have gotten a fresh coat of asphalt.  Not to mention the random bouts of paving along Clairemont Avenue the last couple of months.

Well, GDOT is ready to accept next year’s list of residential paving around the city.  Here’s the list of streets that Asst. City Manager David Yunger is submitting to the city this evening…

• East Parkwood Road from West Ponce de Leon Avenue to West Parkwood Road intersection – .55 miles
• Fairview Street from Sycamore Drive. to Lockwood Terrace – .07 miles
• Lenore Street from Adams Street to South McDonough Street – .15 miles
• Springdale Street from Sycamore Drive to east end of street – .12 miles
• Vidal Boulevard from Lamont Drive to Lamom Drive – .35 miles
• West Hill Street from end of Oakhurst Streetscape project to South McDonough Street – .31 miles

After evaluating the city’s streets and reviewing complaints and inquires from residents, the City of Decatur’s Asst. City Manager David Junger recommended at last Monday’s meeting the following streets be included under the next two years under GDOT’s Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant.

2013

• Parkside Circle
• Drexel Avenue
• East Ponce de Leon Avenue from Commerce Drive to Sycamore Drive
• Chevelle Lane from City Limit to the end of the street

2014

Among the most exciting items on tonight’s Decatur City Commission agenda: repaving of Decatur’s streets under the Georgia Department of Transportation local grant program!

Though the way this work is being contracted has changed –  the city now contracts out the work, not the state – the selection process remains the same.  And after reviewing the 2012 priority list and evaluating “complaints and inquiries from citizens” the following streets have been recommended by Asst. City Manager David Junger for repaving to the Decatur City Commission…

• East Ponce de Leon Ave from Commerce Drive to Sycamore Drive
• Drexel Ave from West Ponce de Leon Ave to West Howard Ave
• Chevelle Lane from city limit to end of street
• Parkside Circle from Scott Boulevard to Scott Boulevard

You may think that because the City Commission just approved an “agreement” with the Georgia Department of Transportation at their meeting last night – which will provide $1,415,867 in federal funding (through the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative) for the North McDonough streetscape improvements – that you might see bulldozers and men decked out in orange down by the high school any day now.

And you would be so very wrong.

According to Decatur Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon, construction on the project will not begin for 4-7 years.

And it’s not for a lack of trying by the city.  They’ve already hired a design firm (which is being paid for with MARTA “off-set” funding) – the same design firm that’s doing the railroad crossing designs – and have held multiple meetings with residents about what they want to see along North McDonough in the future.

The hold up is due to just one adjective in my first sentence: “federal”.  As Mr. Saxon explained to the City Commission last night, because this is a federally funded project, the city will be required to jump through countless hoops (a full environmental review that was mentioned last night) over the next few YEARS in order to finally get the money in hand to pay for the physical improvements.

So, if you have kids in high school, you might want to break the news that they probably will never walk along wider sidewalks up to the Square before they graduate.  HOWVER, if you’ve got a 7 year-old, get that kid jazzed because in 7 years time “Streetscapes baby!”.

City Commissioner Patti Garrett just sent along a GDOT press release announcing Georgia recipients of federally funded grants through the state’s Safe Routes to School program.

Decatur got a cool half-million dollars, which is on par with the largest payouts on the list.   Pretty impressive that a city of 18,000 people got around the same amount of funding as Fulton County or Savannah!

What will the funds be used for?

The city’s planning director, Amanda Thompson, tells DM that  because the application is “2 years old and the city has moved on with some projects already, like sidewalk repairs and the South Columbia traffic calming project, this scope of the original project will change.”  Also, GDOT is responsible for the design and construction of all projects.

That said, here’s the original project list included with the application…

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Speaking of roundabouts!   An Emory Village update via the Clairmont Heights Civic Association…

Roundabout Update :

DeKalb County’s new roundabout and streetscape project in Emory Village is on the near horizon. A contractor has been selected and following the final Georgia Department of Transportation approvals, the roadwork will begin as soon as this May. Check back with AIEV (www.emoryvillage.org) for updates.

Burbanck Park Work Day in March

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