Avondale Estates is attempting to secure a meeting with Georgia Department of Transportation officials to discuss a possible road diet on U.S. 278 between Sams Crossing and Clarendon Avenue.
“Our first model,” Mayor Jonathan Elmore said, “showed that [cutting 278 from five to three lanes] wouldn’t work. We’d like to see if we can tweak that model, see if there are other variables we didn’t previously explore.”
Two years ago the city determined, with input from GDOT, that a road diet, along with a roundabout at the 278/Clarendon intersection wasn’t feasible, mostly because it would slow traffic along that state road.
Currently the city is pursuing an estimated $2.8 million project that would include continuous sidewalks on both sides of 278 from Ashton Place to Sams Crossing. It would also have four medians with refuge islands and flashing-signal crossings, but no reduction of lanes.
Earlier this month, however, a forum hosted by the citizens advocate group Second Century Avondale appeared to once again whet the city’s appetite for a road diet.
“The community has always wanted that diet,” Elmore said. “It’s even in our comprehensive plan. But the goal is to keep cars moving through at an acceptable rate for GDOT.”
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