At the State of the City Address, Mayor Mike Davis announced that safety improvements will be made around Dunwoody schools. At this evenings City Council Meeting the Mayor announced that at the March work session, the City Council will be discussing adding missing sidewalks like the one on Hensley Drive shown above as well as contemplate other safety improvements that are needed around our schools.
Watch the youtube video published back in November and then read the comments by this Father regarding almost being forced to drive his kids to school when they live just a half mile to school. It is this exact reason why our streets
The City Council pulled $700,000 of funding off the Womack / Vermack roundabout and those funds are are sitting in reserves until needed. It appears that the final roundabout design will not be brought back to Council until late in the year therefore a portion of those funds could be used for the Mayor's announced safety improvements.
Besides looking at crosswalks, school signage and lighting systems should be reviewed and upgraded as needed to the 2013 standards from the 1960 standards when they were first installed. I believe HAWK beacons may be needed at several specific crosswalks located on heavily traveled streets and we will be looking for location recommendations from the Public Works Department, the School PTA's and the general public.
Watch the video. Where would you like to see these devices installed? Near Schools like Mt Vernon at Stratham near Vanderlyn, Chesnut Crosswalk on North Peachtree, Chamblee Dunwoody at Redfield near Austin, or maybe on other high traffic areas away from standard traffic lights like Mt Vernon near the Branches, Chamblee Dunwoody at Kings Down or Tilly Mill at Stonington or Andover Rd's.
Where are the highest needs and where would you like to see improvements?
One system that is less confusing is what Chamblee uses on Peachtree Road at the entrance to the Chamblee MARTA Station. It attracts attention to the pedestrian crossing and the crosswalk. Also there's no sign in the middle of the road to run over. If HAWK beacons were used in surrounding jurisdictions, then the cut through traffic would be more accustomed to that kind of signal. For really busy crosswalks between major intersections, signalling with a standard traffic signal would be the best solution in Dunwoody, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteThis walk is nothing compared to walking on Brendon Drive by Kingsley. Not only do we get the elementary school traffic, we get the cut through traffic from the high school, the college and commuters. I know that there is supposedly a grant for sidewalks, but that apparently won't happen in my lifetime, as its been in the works for years. Sidewalks won't slow down the traffic either.
ReplyDeleteI want to point out that virtually all those cars are driven by Vanderlyn parents, who should know better and are showing a total disregard for the walkers. A sidewalk is a solution, but so is really heavy police activity and ticketing.
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