On Thursday, November 19, 2020, I joined the Decatur 2030/ Decatur 202 Zoom call about transportation and mobility. Though the Zoom style conference was cumbersome but understandable given that we are still in the midst in the Pandemic, but I did enjoy meeting some of the participants who were interesting in improving Decatur's mobility. The following are some notes and thoughts from the breakout group and my own personal anecdotes and observations with respect to Church Street and main artery in the city that feeds the downtown from the Northeast.
I lived along the noisy and traffic heavy Church Street for ten years. I retired last year, but before then I commuted to Midtown via MARTA and walked that stretch of Decatur everyday rain or shine. My fellow citizens understood and expressed the issues and the overall consensus is that improving sidewalks would go along way to improve accessibility and use for seniors, people who use walkers, shopping carts (from Claremont Oaks) and strollers. As we learned from Heather Alhadeff's excellent presentation 20 % of the trips made by Decaturites are work related with the remaining 80 % are for running errands, taking children to school and going to the store. By reducing the number of short car trips along Church street would dovetail with improving health of all citizens and reduce some of the carbon footprint and emissions.
General Comments from The Breakout Group
Two important observations from the group were: It is critical to be mindful that much of the Monday-Friday traffic is Atlanta area motorists passing through the city on Commerce, Church, Claremont, College Scott and DeKalb-Howard Avenue. It seems unfair to punish these motorists by blocking major arteries, but slowing these motorists down would be a goal. Reducing the number of local trips by residents (to schools, shopping, or work) would benefit these motorists.
One problem that Decatur has is the split on the south side of downtown by the railroad tracks. New crossings at McDonough and Trinity have improved, but pedestrian and bicycle access at College and Commerce and by Agnes Scott could be improved.
Church Street
Currently, walking along Church Street is nothing less than unpleasant and sometimes dangerous considering the high speed of the traffic and the limited places to cross the street safely. As Heather's presentation, pointed out a pedestrian struck my an auto at 20 mph has a 1 in 10 chance of being a fatality in contrast to an vehicle traveling at 40 mph hitting a pedestrian will result in a fatality 9 in 10 times. It is common for a car to travel 30 mph along Church and sometimes even faster.
There are some lane merging around Glenwood Park, but the markers, the lane lines and traffic post/cones are in disrepair. I cannot recall one time in the decade that I have lived here to see any maintenance. The sidewalks from Ponce De Leon to Forkner are narrow, broken and can barely accommodate two pedestrians at time. Heavy rain leaves puddles. Seniors from Clairmont Oaks must try to navigate these uneven sidewalks to get to Kroger on Commerce.
There is regular pedestrian traffic by necessity especially since to MARTA bus routes have been discontinued (but the signage is outdated.) since the Pandemic. This bus route did serve minorities who now must walk the stretch of Church to get to the MARTA station at Decatur Square.
Only very dedicated cyclists ever bicycle along Church Street. The cyclist markings have long faded and really what do they really accomplish?
Improvements Scheduled?
Improvements to Church Street are currently on the CTP and I believe easements are being obtained, but residents have no idea when or if this will happen. This has been something that has been "scheduled" for years.