Tech Pkwy to go on diet and get PATH (Atlanta: condo, college)

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I wonder if this gentleman has ever considered getting out of his car and commuting on two wheels?

Or, perhaps they could try the brand new bus route that will start service on Northside Drive soon?

Originally Posted by ATLfromJAX

As someone that started at Georgia Tech as an undergrad in 1986 when there was NO apartments or businesses in West Midtown, I see the need for Tech Parkway as a good pass-thru to Northside Rd. And I worked in West Midtown for over a decade as the area started to re-develop.

This project is a cosmetic ONLY improvement at best. And at worst, will cause an increase in traffic.

A few years ago, they reduced the lanes for most of Tech Parkway from 4 to 2 lanes by adding street parking.

But now that West Midtown is booming, it's not the time to narrow lanes and worsen traffic flow.

The left turn from Tech Parkway onto North Ave is already a disaster.

No, now is the time to turn our core city into a livable area, where residents, students, and employees can all get around with options other than a car. We have interstates and massive boulevards for cars already, and drivers should use them rather than cutting through a college campus.

If commuters need more, then they should push for more alternatives, like commuter rail, heavy rail extensions, and additional transit routes, but for too many years the city has pandered for cars and almost exclusively cars.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Or, perhaps they could try the brand new bus route that will start service on Northside Drive soon?

You're both assuming he commutes to/from a place where using bikes or transit is possible.

No, now is the time to turn our core city into a livable area, where residents, students, and employees can all get around with options other than a car. We have interstates and massive boulevards for cars already, and drivers should use them rather than cutting through a college campus.

A city that's "livable" needs it major thoroughfares! Not every street can be a two-lane cowpath.

If commuters need more, then they should push for more alternatives, like commuter rail, heavy rail extensions, and additional transit routes, but for too many years the city has pandered for cars and almost exclusively cars.

You can't put the cart before the horse! If you make West Midtown unlivable because people can't can't where they need to go in a timely manner, than all the transit in the world won't help.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by ATLfromJAX

As someone that started at Georgia Tech as an undergrad in 1986 when there was NO apartments or businesses in West Midtown, I see the need for Tech Parkway as a good pass-thru to Northside Rd. And I worked in West Midtown for over a decade as the area started to re-develop.

This project is a cosmetic ONLY improvement at best. And at worst, will cause an increase in traffic.

A few years ago, they reduced the lanes for most of Tech Parkway from 4 to 2 lanes by adding street parking.

But now that West Midtown is booming, it's not the time to narrow lanes and worsen traffic flow.

The left turn from Tech Parkway onto North Ave is already a disaster.

Tech Pkwy for years has had on-street parking, so really the street was 2 lane anyway.
Also, as Home Park, Blandtown, and other areas west of Midtown boom, MARTA will be starting bus service along Northside Dr, to alleviate the congestion.

[ATLfromJAX]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Tech Pkwy for years has had on-street parking, so really the street was 2 lane anyway.
Also, as Home Park, Blandtown, and other areas west of Midtown boom, MARTA will be starting bus service along Northside Dr, to alleviate the congestion.

1. As I mentioned in my 3rd point, Tech Pkwy was reduced from 4 to 2 lanes years ago. However, moving the lanes to one side will slow traffic.

2. There are a couple of MARTA bus routes on Northside now. But for people like me that live in Cobb and regularly have off-site meetings during the day, mass transit doesn't work.

3. I used to work in San Francisco (in South of Market area) almost 20 years ago. And while San Fran is a "dense city", about 80% of my co-workers drove to work. Traffic getting in and out of the city was WORST than Atlanta. And kind of like Atlanta, the public schools weren't great in the city and most of my co-workers didn't live in San Fran proper.

So density won't solve some of these "livability" issues Atlantans are complaining about.....

[demonta4]

I'm going to say that pedestrians being safe is more important than people being able to cut through a college campus at high speeds as a shortcut. Just cruise and enjoy the ride, everything doesn't have to be done in a rush.

[magnetar]

Originally Posted by ATLfromJAX

However, moving the lanes to one side will slow traffic.

This is a good thing.

But for people like me that live in Cobb and regularly have off-site meetings during the day, mass transit doesn't work.

That is an issue I would highly recommend talking with your county's elected representatives about. They don't seem convinced yet that Cobb should be part of our regional transit system.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by ATLfromJAX

1. As I mentioned in my 3rd point, Tech Pkwy was reduced from 4 to 2 lanes years ago. However, moving the lanes to one side will slow traffic.

2. There are a couple of MARTA bus routes on Northside now. But for people like me that live in Cobb and regularly have off-site meetings during the day, mass transit doesn't work.

3. I used to work in San Francisco (in South of Market area) almost 20 years ago. And while San Fran is a "dense city", about 80% of my co-workers drove to work. Traffic getting in and out of the city was WORST than Atlanta. And kind of like Atlanta, the public schools weren't great in the city and most of my co-workers didn't live in San Fran proper.

So density won't solve some of these "livability" issues Atlantans are complaining about.....

Slow traffic thru a university and in a dense, urban setting is good. If cars want to go fast, there is a freeway 1.5 miles to the east.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Slow traffic thru a university and in a dense, urban setting is good. If cars want to go fast, there is a freeway 1.5 miles to the east.

We're not talking about a small road winding between academic buildings, we're talking about a major thoroughfare around the perimeter of the campus. If Georgia Tech would stop being cheap and invest in a parking deck, they could remove parking along this road and let it be used for actually moving people effectively.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by MattCW

We're not talking about a small road winding between academic buildings, we're talking about a major thoroughfare around the perimeter of the campus. If Georgia Tech would stop being cheap and invest in a parking deck, they could remove parking along this road and let it be used for actually moving people effectively.

A major thoroughfare? Dude, the speed limit on the road before lane closure was a strictly enforced 25 mph. Why would a land-locked school waste the valuable and limited land to parking, when MARTA is so close and Tech provides transit from campus to several stations?

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by cqholt

A major thoroughfare? Dude, the speed limit on the road before lane closure was a strictly enforced 25 mph.

Dude, that's still easily 3300 cars (people) per hour. Most of the major roads through Atlanta don't get much faster than that, especially at rush hour, but they're still thoroughfares, dude.

Why would a land-locked school waste the valuable and limited land to parking, when MARTA is so close and Tech provides transit from campus to several stations?

BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE CAN'T USE TRANSIT! Why is that so hard to understand? How is a student from Cobb supposed to get to Tech? Drive all the way to Lindbergh just to stay out of your precious city limits? What about a professor from Rockdale? Drive up to Indian Creek? Nothing on a campus is 9-5 or 8-4 except a few admin positions so Xpress and the GCT and CCT routes won't work. Even most of the in-town locations are out of reach of transit to Tech requiring either backtracking (from the west) or taking forever (from the east).