Road Diets & Protected Bike lanes Funded for Spring & Juniper Streets in Midtown (Atlanta: 2015, houses)

[jsvh]

Juniper bike lane, Spring Street road diet get funding boost from federal cash | Atlanta News & Opinion Blog | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta



Moores Mill Extension, MLK and other good things got funding too:

• Along with extending Moores Mill Road, northwest Atlanta can also expect to see a new traffic signal at the intersection of Moores Mill and Marietta Boulevard. Money will also pay for a continuation of the PATH Foundation’s Whetstone Creek Trail to the Marietta Boulevard bridge. MARTA has also partnered with the city to build a layover point for buses to exit traffic so customers can catch a ride.
  
• In southwest Atlanta, two segments of five-lane Campbellton Road will see safety improvements. ADA ramps, mid-block crosswalks with pedestrian refuge islands, and a number of smaller fixes will be constructed from Greenbriar Parkway to Dodson Drive and from Wells Drive to Pinehurst Drive.
  
• Seven new traffic signals and five new rectangular rapid-flash beacons will be added throughout different intersections in Midtown. And although only 50 percent of the design is complete, the segment of Juniper Street from 14th Street to Ponce de Leon will get an overhaul. Plans call for removing two of the four travel lanes in exchange for one protected bike lane and one additional lane for on-street parking. A Reed spokeswoman said public input will be taken into consideration before any lane changes are finalized.
  
• Officials, citing safety concerns for pedestrians, want to put a segment of Spring Street from Peachtree Street to 17th Street on a road diet. The project would take away travel lanes to pave 10-foot- wide sidewalks on both sides of the street. On the west side of the street another 5-foot furniture zone — the area with streetlights and shrubbery buffering pedestrians from traffic — will also be added.
  
• And don’t forget about Martin Luther King Jr. Drive’s overhaul to beautify the east-west road that was sparked by the construction of the new Atlanta Falcons stadium. A road diet is reducing Ollie Street to Walnut Street from four to three lanes for pedestrian friendly upgrades. Walnut Street to Northside Drive is also being downsized from six to four lanes to boost walkability and build a raised median.
  
• As for cyclists and drivers, Ollie Street to James P. Brawley Drive will snag a lane for on-street parking. A bicycle lane will be added to the section of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive that connects James P. Brawley Drive and Northside Drive. But the proposed upgrades are not set in stone. If changes are made to the new stadium’s infrastructure, some of the proposed improvements might have to be tweaked or dropped to fit those changes.

[bu2]

Sharing Atlanta's roads with bikes not always easy | www.myajc.com

Torpy has some comments on cyclists.


Obnoxious on two wheels: A lesson in bicycle rights

Posted: 6:32 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015




Email 7Facebook 1067Twitter 158ShareThis 1485
By Bill Torpy - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution



Let’s start with this as a given: Atlanta drivers are nuts. And a mea culpa. We’re impatient, unfocused and generally dyspeptic.

Now, on to bicyclists. Many of them are doing their share to make drivers angry — often intentionally so.




+On the streets of Atlanta, an obnoxious lesson in bicycle rights photo
Brant Sanderlin

The scene at a bike rally at the Capitol in March. Brant Sanderlin / AJC file

For years, there has been an uneasy co-existence between cars and bikes, a struggle to share the road between two camps who often see the worst in each other.

To bicyclists, motorists are pushy, lazy, exhaust-belching blockheads. To drivers, bicyclists are preachy, preening, sanctimonious prigs.

To that point, I encountered one of the latter the other afternoon.




+Torpy mug photo

Bill Torpy

I was driving through the Candler Park neighborhood, north on Clifton Road, when I got behind a young guy and woman riding side-by-side in the two-lane street. They were going 12 mph and the road was doubled-lined, a no-pass zone. No sweat, I figured, there are parked cars off to the right and one of the bikers will ease over when given the chance.

Finally, there was an opening for them to pull over — three or four houses of no parked cars. But, they didn’t. The dude kept pedaling (barely) in the middle of the lane.

After a block or so, I gave him a love tap with my horn, a light toot, mind you, to let him know there was a growing cavalcade behind him.



Bill Torpy at Large
•The meter's about to expire for SHARKatlanta
•In a hellish DeKalb landscape, hope survives
•Interpret this, Trump: Afghan Muslim an American hero
•In the Internet echo chamber, you’re always right
•Teaching teens to drive: Take a deep breath and hit the road

More Bill Torpy at Large »

The rider turned, yelled something, made a hand gesture and then … went slower. In fact, there was a slight decline in the road, so he had to be applying his brakes. He was punishing me.

When I did finally pass, I rolled down the passenger window and hollered that he didn’t need to be such a jerk. He shouted that bikes are allowed by law to ride side-by side and then started yelling something else. I ended the conversation diplomatically, suggesting he perform an act that is physically impossible. He then went off, shouting and cursing and finally riding faster, like he wanted to catch me.

Part of me wanted to stop and see what he had. Instead, I accelerated. AJC management frowns on their employees’ mugshots appearing on local TV.

My first thought driving away was, “I’m glad you guys lost out on getting those bike lanes on Peachtree Road!”

And, I venture, bicyclists like that are a good reason 70 percent of the 2,000 residents commenting to the Georgia Department of Transportation said, “No way!” when it came to the Peachtree lanes.
....

[jsvh]

bu2 - Not sure how Torpy's biker hate-piece is really that relevant to this thread.

But unlike Buckhead, at least there are starting to be some viable options for bikes to ride in a protected space separate from cars in Midtown. That should make everyone happy. But of course drivers are never happy. Stuck behind a bike?! Anger! Yelling! Take away a lane for bikes so I am not stuck behind them!? H*** No!

I'll gladly take dealing a rude cyclist over even just an average driver any day.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by bu2

Sharing Atlanta's roads with bikes not always easy | www.myajc.com

Torpy has some comments on cyclists.


Obnoxious on two wheels: A lesson in bicycle rights

Posted: 6:32 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015




Email 7Facebook 1067Twitter 158ShareThis 1485
By Bill Torpy - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution



Let’s start with this as a given: Atlanta drivers are nuts. And a mea culpa. We’re impatient, unfocused and generally dyspeptic.

Now, on to bicyclists. Many of them are doing their share to make drivers angry — often intentionally so.




+On the streets of Atlanta, an obnoxious lesson in bicycle rights photo
Brant Sanderlin

The scene at a bike rally at the Capitol in March. Brant Sanderlin / AJC file

For years, there has been an uneasy co-existence between cars and bikes, a struggle to share the road between two camps who often see the worst in each other.

To bicyclists, motorists are pushy, lazy, exhaust-belching blockheads. To drivers, bicyclists are preachy, preening, sanctimonious prigs.

To that point, I encountered one of the latter the other afternoon.




+Torpy mug photo

Bill Torpy

I was driving through the Candler Park neighborhood, north on Clifton Road, when I got behind a young guy and woman riding side-by-side in the two-lane street. They were going 12 mph and the road was doubled-lined, a no-pass zone. No sweat, I figured, there are parked cars off to the right and one of the bikers will ease over when given the chance.

Finally, there was an opening for them to pull over — three or four houses of no parked cars. But, they didn’t. The dude kept pedaling (barely) in the middle of the lane.

After a block or so, I gave him a love tap with my horn, a light toot, mind you, to let him know there was a growing cavalcade behind him.



Bill Torpy at Large
•The meter's about to expire for SHARKatlanta
•In a hellish DeKalb landscape, hope survives
•Interpret this, Trump: Afghan Muslim an American hero
•In the Internet echo chamber, you’re always right
•Teaching teens to drive: Take a deep breath and hit the road

More Bill Torpy at Large »

The rider turned, yelled something, made a hand gesture and then … went slower. In fact, there was a slight decline in the road, so he had to be applying his brakes. He was punishing me.

When I did finally pass, I rolled down the passenger window and hollered that he didn’t need to be such a jerk. He shouted that bikes are allowed by law to ride side-by side and then started yelling something else. I ended the conversation diplomatically, suggesting he perform an act that is physically impossible. He then went off, shouting and cursing and finally riding faster, like he wanted to catch me.

Part of me wanted to stop and see what he had. Instead, I accelerated. AJC management frowns on their employees’ mugshots appearing on local TV.

My first thought driving away was, “I’m glad you guys lost out on getting those bike lanes on Peachtree Road!”

And, I venture, bicyclists like that are a good reason 70 percent of the 2,000 residents commenting to the Georgia Department of Transportation said, “No way!” when it came to the Peachtree lanes.
....

That guy is a douche and writes for a crappy newspaper. They have to publish BS like this to generate clicks.

[JPD]

Threatening violence in print in a major daily newspaper. Smart move, dumbass.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Juniper bike lane, Spring Street road diet get funding boost from federal cash | Atlanta News & Opinion Blog | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta

I am okay with this.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I am okay with this.

Why not, Juniper has extra capacity

[ATLTJL]

Ehhh.....taking away one of Juniper's 4-lanes might makes sense, but I'm wary of shrinking the road's capacity by 50%.

Of course, I don't have to take it during rush hour, so it won't affect me, but why do we need to take away another lane to create parking? There are plenty of lots around there and Joes/Einsteins have valet.

[DunwoodyPanhandle]

These ideas would be dumb if they weren't ideological. The idea: we cannot ban cars, so let's make it nearly impossible for people to drive.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by DunwoodyPanhandle

These ideas would be dumb if they weren't ideological. The idea: we cannot ban cars, so let's make it nearly impossible for people to drive.

Not in anyway, if people wish to drive fast and/or passing thru the area, they can use the freeway. I as said in other thread, the era of putting car commuters above citizens in over in the CoA.