GDOT’s plan for Northside Drive doesn’t give pedestrians the help they need

The part of Northside Drive from Hemphill Ave to Marietta St has boomed with apartments in recent years. A new student housing building is also on the way.

That’s why I’m concerned about the “operational improvements” outlined for an upcoming GDOT roadwork project on this stretch (see details). The project is focused almost entirely on car flow with very little benefit for peds/cyclists. That’s unacceptable.

Big hat tip to Nathaniel Horadam on Twitter for posting about this.

If you’re up for some wonky writing, here’s where to submit comments (Deadline Feb. 11):

atlantaregional.org/tip-amendment/

Here is what I wrote…

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This is a comment for the TIP amendment, regarding the Northside Drive project.

Specifically, this is SR 3/US 41/Northside Drive: Operational Improvements Project ID: 0015288, as seen here:

https://sr-3-northside-improvements-0015288-gdot.hub.arcgis.com/

This section of road has gained an extraordinary growth in apartment buildings in recent years, and a new 671-bed student housing building is also on the way. The “operational improvements” listed for the project are clearly focused on car flow, with very little improvement for pedestrian traffic.

Given the residential growth here and the fact that it will increase a need for safe pedestrian and cycling connections to the nearby Georgia Tech campus, there should be a much heavier focus on improvements to all modes of transportation equally, including transit ridership (which in itself needs support from improved pedestrian safety).

This project should be halted and restarted with input from the City of Atlanta DOT, Georgia Tech, Neighborhood Planning Unit E, and MARTA, in order to ensure a more equitably beneficial design.