I submitted these comments today: Ive been to a couple of the meetings and I have to say that I feel the plan is being presented in a way that isnt objective. Its proposals are discussed in nothing but positive ways and the process doesnt invite easy openings for meaningful critique. The size and scope of the plan, together with the way the collection of feedback is formatted, have made it difficult to address specifics. Plans for nodes are presented en masse, almost as if its all or nothing. Positive statements supporting plan elements are included in the text of summaries in a way that infers opinion as fact. For instance, its been asserted that the Monroe diet plan wont negatively impact already terrible traffic congestion, but there are no specific traffic studies of Monroe and the diets effect. I dont buy it and no one ever takes a moment to discuss the possible down-side - we just keep hearing things stated as fact with no backup. The assertion that the middle lanes of Monroe rarely transmit traffic across the intersection because of turns is false. While cars do back up behind turners many times, a great many cars actually manage to travel straight through, even during rush hour. I drive it daily, so I know. The main back up occurs at the intersection with Amsterdam, but even there I am often able to proceed through the intersection using the inner lane. Constricting Monroe’s massive number of cars to one lane in each direction with be a disaster. In the presentation video Aaron Fortner says that we need to “stake a claim” to Monroe drive, noting that it has single family dwelling on both sides. He goes on to try to compare Monroe to Virginia Avenue, which is “busier” but “not intolerable” for the people who live on it. There is no comparison at all in any way between Monroe Drive and Virginia Avenue. Monroe Drive is a major thoroughfare for this section of the city, not a neighborhood road. I understand that people who bought houses and live on Monroe Drive might wish it was otherwise, but it isnt. You couldnt buy a house fronting on Buford Highway and then try to turn it into Virginia Avenue and you cant do it here, either. Creating pedestrian-activated crossing signals and bike lanes is going to further clog this major thoroughfare. Cross-walks at any locations other than intersections would simply become additional, uncontrolled “stop lights” and would create havoc with traffic, especially at rush-hour or when there are a number of people walking to and from the park for any event. There is no reason people can’t walk to a lighted intersection – this is a city, not an English hamlet. The suggestion that we create “All Pedestrian Phases” at the major intersections is also a ridiculous prospect. How does anyone suppose that further delaying traffic on a major road isn’t going to increase already terrible traffic congestion? A round-about is not an effective way to handle the level of traffic using Monroe Drive. Atlantans are not adept at using them, even in small, less-traveled intersections. Buses, whether MARTA or other, and large trucks will have trouble with them and so will routine drivers. The current obsession with installing bike lanes on every street, no matter how heavy its traffic, is completely over the top. I am all in favor of clean, healthy living, but I live intown, in part, to avoid the ridiculous traffic to, from and in the suburbs. At no point during this process have I heard the goal of alleviating traffic – the closest I’ve heard are references to “traffic-calming” which is a euphemism for “creating such bad traffic problems that people try to find other routes.” Having decent, reasonably uncongested access to and from work should be one of the benefits of this area that we fight to keep and improve. Instead, we seem to be focusing solely on bikes and pedestrians with no objective consideration of the traffic costs. People could easily use the less-congested roads as safe, pleasant alternatives for their biking, but this plan insists that every road, even Ponce de Leon, be equipped with bike lanes. The ridiculous installation on 10th Street at Monroe is a great example of the craze. They took a lane away from one of our busiest intersections for a bike lane IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO A PARK. When someones turing left into Grady HSs busy parking lot, all Westbound traffic is stopped in the single remaining lane. Has anyone considered how few of our residents walk or bike to work? The vast majority of us drive to and from work, yet maintaining good, fast ingress and egress for cars isn’t even mentioned in the plan’s mission. At some point we are going to cause so much traffic that our home/work commutes are as miserable as those of Gwinettians and other suburbanites. I dont mean to be unpleasant, but I am frustrated by the heavy push for this plan - these proposals would have a major impact on our neighborhood and I dont think anything thats driven by 16 peoples vote should be considered a consensus.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 21:41:37 +0000
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