The Parkwood neighborhood was annexed into Decatur six years ago this summer, and almost from the beginning residents have griped about cut-through traffic, speeding and large trucks.
It turns out the complaints are supported by metrics. Earlier this week the city commission approved Phase 1 of the Parkwood Neighborhood Traffic Calming Plan.
This will include 15 new speed tables (11 are replacements and four totally new) on East and West Parkwood Road, Upland Road and Parkwood Lane. It also includes six landscape medians or raised concrete medians (either 8 or 10 feet in width) at various entrances to the neighborhood, along with a tighter, reduced turning radius and narrower lanes at the East Lake/Parkwood intersection.
Estimated cost for Phase 1 is $250,000 and work could begin as soon as several weeks according to Assistant City Manager David Junger. Once the work starts, he added it could take 60 to 90 days.
Phase 2 would include additional speed tables, lane narrowing and removal of the right turn slip lane at the East Lake Drive and East/West Parkwood intersection. There is no timetable for when that work would start.
“To some degree the problem has always been there,” Junger said. “But I think our smart phone technology has made it worse. Cars cut through there going from [south Decatur] to the Emory and Druid Hills area. Delivery trucks cut through there to get to restaurants and [retail outlets].”
According to speed and volume data, 85 percent of the traffic on East and West Parkwood averages 31 and 28 mph respectively in a 25 mph zone. Though not high enough to ticket (you have to go 10 mph or over), the metrics nevertheless prove most cars are speeding.
In its various transportation plans the city has identified that more than 1000 cars daily on a residential street is considered too many. The recent studies show that East Parkwood sees 3,765 vehicle trips per day, while West Parkwood has 2,856 vehicle trips per day.
The traffic study also documented 23 Class 8, 9 or 10 trucks on neighborhood streets over a 48-hour period.
“We want to slow traffic and discourage large vehicles from coming into the neighborhood,” Junger said. “It’s really not about ticketing, it’s about changing behavior. We want the [faster traffic and trucks] staying on the larger roads [surrounding state roads Scott Boulevard and East Lake Drive], the roads capable of handling that traffic.”
The Parkwood area totals 35 acres (including a 3.2-acre old growth forest) and 75 homes, most of them ranch-style constructions dating from the 1950s.
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