Decatur’s “Reimagine West Howard Avenue” project is nearly complete, with mostly the landscaping remaining.
The $283,466 reconfiguration covers a one-mile stretch of West Howard from North McDonough Street west to the city limits (roughly the East Lake MARTA station). This includes restriping the corridor and cutting it from four to two lanes, new midblock crossings at Drexel Avenue and Greenwood Circle and new pedestrian signals at Atlanta Avenue/West Howard.
Currently orange and white cylinders line the corridor where landscaping planters will get built in the next few weeks.
Landscape improvements are planned along the entire length, creating a buffer between eastbound automobile traffic and the asphalt shoulder next to PATH Stone Mountain Trail. There’ll be additional landscaping within new pedestrian refuge islands at the Drexel Avenue, Adair Street and Greenwood Circle crosswalks.
The landscaping consists of alternating planter boxes of trees and a wildflower mix.
This project is separate from the scheduled rebuilding of the Atlanta Avenue/West Howard intersection. Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon said recently that planning for that work should start in the next two months.
