The Coming Ponce De Leon Traffic Disaster. (Atlanta, Decatur: home, neighbourhood)

[shivtim]

I'm very excited for this, and I don't even own a bike. Wider traffic lanes and a turn lane on Ponce would be amazing. I don't care if they remove a lane; we don't need a 6-lane road cutting through the city.

[Saintmarks]

Normally I am skeptical over stuff like this, but three lanes in a direction without a shared center turn lane is like each direction getting its own left turn lane. That is all it amounts to. If you are traveling thru, you DON'T get in the left lane at all. I see this as a traffic flow improvement.

[AnsleyPark]

My upmpteen years of experience on Ponce leads me to believe that the very fast moving traffic (speeders) cause most of the traffic tie ups. Slowing the traffic down, I think, will help improve overall traffic flow.

[atl parent]

Traffic engineering is also full of counter-intuitive (to the lay-person) cause/effect relations. It is often very hard for ordinary folks, like myself, to predict the consequences of something like a change in lanes. I'm happy to give traffic engineers the benefit of the doubt--if they suggest that they can fit in a bike lane without too adverse an impact on Ponce traffic, I'm not willing to say they're wrong.

[cwlawrence]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

People forgot that North Ave is basically empty next to PCM

SHHHHH!

I am really surprised North is not the bike lane route, rather than Ponce, especially because North bottle-necks east of PCM, but before Moreland (and the new four-way stop doesn't help), and has the useless median with the plastic bollards.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by cwlawrence

SHHHHH!

I am really surprised North is not the bike lane route, rather than Ponce, especially because North bottle-necks east of PCM, but before Moreland (and the new four-way stop doesn't help), and has the useless median with the plastic bollards.

Because there is going to be a ramp for bicycle access to the BeltLine.

[residinghere2007]

Ugh....I am just weary of impending construction. And for those of use going east on Ponce to Decatur every day, North Avenue really isn't any better than Ponce, it is worse actually, especially past Freedom Pkwy, which is why I get off North Ave at Freedom Pkwy.

I do think the turning lane is a good idea. Most people on Ponce who drive it regularly stay in the right lane because the left lane causes you to get tied up for a long period of time if the person is turning. They also need more turning signals on Ponce. Right now, I only think Clifton has a turning signal and Moreland/Briarcliff. I have had cars try to turn in front of me when I am riding in the right lane and causing me to nearly have a heart attack. The left turners are really stuck on Ponce in rush hour.

But I will be looking for an alternative now...sigh...Ponce is a straight shot for me for a few places I have to go to for work 2-3 times a week. I can take DeKalb Ave but it has similar problems as Ponce has and in the afternoons especially, it is worse.

[noah]

Not sure if you noticed but they are already several weeks into construction on this project. So far it appears its mainly been done at night. They were out last night again resurfacing a stretch between ponce and north around Juniper

Originally Posted by residinghere2007

Ugh....I am just weary of impending construction. .

[Jillgineer]

Originally Posted by cwlawrence

SHHHHH!

I am really surprised North is not the bike lane route, rather than Ponce, especially because North bottle-necks east of PCM, but before Moreland (and the new four-way stop doesn't help), and has the useless median with the plastic bollards.

Just like Peachtree being a better biking street than West Peachtree or Spring, Ponce has an advantage for bicyclists over North in that it is much less hilly. For someone driving a car, this is no big deal. They put slightly more pressure on the gas pedal going up a hill and that's that. For a cyclist, it's a really big deal. Doubly so because there tends to be intersections at the bottom of hills, which when the light is red, a common occurrence since the lights aren't timed to bike speeds, takes away any momentum gained from going down the hill. Making a city bike friendly is more than slapping some paint on a street and calling it a day.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by noah

Not sure if you noticed but they are already several weeks into construction on this project. So far it appears its mainly been done at night. They were out last night again resurfacing a stretch between ponce and north around Juniper

I hope work continues at night.

When I have to go to Decatur I usually go down North Ave, then make left on Freedom Pkwy, then continue on Ponce and the stretch between Luckie and Boulevard, then again between Freedom Pkwy and past the Paideia School in the morning are the worst parts of the drive. Before and after that it is pretty smooth sailing.

I also hope they get the traffic lights together on North Ave near GT. Those lights are just timed atrociously.