The Atlanta Regional Commission announced the 2014 recipients of the Livable Centers Initiative grants yesterday.  Among the recipients were the neighboring cities of Avondale and Clarkston.  Here are the descriptions of the grants for the two cities…

City of Avondale Estates, $50,000, to study the feasibility of a roundabout, road diet and “Better Block” demonstration project.
City of Clarkston, $80,000, for a major plan update.

This is the second straight year that Avondale has received a grant.  In 2013, the city received a grant for a “major plan update and a downtown master plan”.

Funny…I just this past week openly wondered on the status of this transportation project.

At tonight’s meeting, Decatur’s City Commission will vote on an agreement between the city and the Georgia Department of Transportation for the Clairemont-Commerce-Church Street Pedestrian Safety and Bicycle Trail Improvements.  The agreement, which was originally announced way back in November 2011, will provide $2.1 million for the project from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative program.

The entire C-Streets project is estimated to cost $4.2 million.  So where will the rest of the funding come from?  A letter from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon details the sources…

Thomas Wheatley – famed trustafarian of the “wheat” family dynasty – reports on Fresh Loaf that the Atlanta Regional Commission has announced a new round of grant-recipients for the Livable Centers Initiative.  Along with a $4 million grant for the Beltline to build a ramp that connects with Ponce (near Ponce City Market aka City Hall East aka the old Sears Warehouse) is a $2.1 million grant for the City of Decatur towards our Clairemont/Commerce/Church Street pedestrian and biking improvements.  According to the Amber Waves of Wheatley, the grants require a local match.

Other area recipients include: Doraville, New Peachtree Bike and Pedestrian Improvements ($2.3 million), Midtown Atlanta, Juniper Street Bike and Pedestrian Facilities ($3.4 million) DeKalb County, Lake Hearn Drive, Perimeter Summit Parkway, Parkside Place Bike and Pedestrian Facilities ($3.1 million), DeKalb, Tucker Streetscape, ($960,000).

What’s a $2.1 million grant mean for the timeline of this Decatur project?  Guess I’ll just have to ask the city!

At tonight’s commission meeting, Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon will ask the Decatur City Commission to approve a $1.9 million grant application to the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Center Initiative to fund improvements to “Clairemont-Commerce-Church Pedestrian Safety and Bicycle Trial Improvements.”

As Mr. Saxon lays out in his letter to the City Manager (page 14 of the meeting materials) the projected total cost of the project is $3.5 mil, of which $1.125 mil is covered by a Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant (which I don’t recall hearing about previously).

That leaves a cool $2.375 mil left to be paid for.  Currently, Decatur still has $5 million tagged in Atlanta’s transportation sales tax project list for funding this project, but if that falls through, this LCI grant is the backup plan.  Decatur would need to put up a 20% match ($475,000) to get the grant, which Mr. Saxon says will be available in the capital improvement fund balance in two years, when this project can be expected to begin.

This “ask” (as the cool kids say) comes just days before a public meeting regarding these ped/bike improvements at City Hall next Monday.

The city’s influential Transportation Plan calls for wider sidewalks and crosswalks, countdown signals for pedestrians, changes to the signal timing and traffic lanes at these intersections (Commerce @ Clairemont can be seen above).  The plan recommends the Church Street/Commece intersection be narrowed from 60 to 45 feet.  Lots more in this PDF.

Among the items on tonight’s Decatur City Commission agenda is approval of a North McDonough “scoping phase report” that the city must submit to the Atlanta Regional Commission in order to receive the Livable Cities Initiative grant for streetscape improvements along the thoroughfare.

In his letter to the commission, Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon gives an overview of what the project is looking like after a couple community conversations…

The proposed concept receiving the most support includes reducing North McDonough to 2 vehicle lanes, widening sidewalks on both sides of the street, and a 2-way “cycle track” on the west side of the street, along with traditional streetscape improvements and on-street parking.

Have an indescribable love/hatred of any of these plans?  Mr. Saxon states there will be additional community meetings to refine this plan as the project moves forward.

North McDonough sure has come a long way in the past couple years.

Once one of Decatur’s least inviting streets, home to little more than front of the Decatur High School and the western facade of the Marble House, this major city corridor has new life in recent years with the addition of new businesses like Village Vets and Relics & Rarities and of course the High School’s new auditorium and stadium.

And now Decatur can finally put the icing on the cake.

Just last month, the city heard that it had received preliminary approval of a $1.77 million grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative to make improvements to McDonough’s streetscape.

Assitant City Manager Lyn Menne notes…

We had applied several times in the past but hadn’t gotten the grant – for several reasons I think. They try to spread the funding around and we have several streetscape projects in the works. It also helps that we have funding in place for the intersection improvement at the railroad intersection at the south end and funding in place for streetscape improvements along Trinity at the northern end of this corridor and the high school construction is completed and should generate more pedestrian activity with the gym, performing arts center and stadium improvements. All the pieces were in place to complete this last bit of the network to the south side and Agnes Scott.

The city will have to match 20% of the cost – around $354,000 – which is available from the Capital Bond Project Fund.

DeKalb commish Jeff Rader alerts his constituents of a North Druid Hills LCI (Livable Centers Initiative) Kickoff at the DeKalb International Student Center (formerly Kittredge Magnet School) at 2383 N. Druid Hills Road from 6:30-8:30pm on November 17th.

The plan itself (PDF) has noble, New Urbanisty goals, but seems to walk an awkward line between wanting to maximize driving efficiency – into and through the corridor – while also developing the kinds of density that should promote more pedestrian activity.

And while I recognize compromise as essential component of any real-world “initiative” or plan, any infrastructure that attempts to promote a sidewalk lifestyle, while simultaneously making driving MORE convienent seems doomed to disappoint both drivers and peds alike.