GDOT tells Avondale to revise road diet

The Georgia Department of Transportation has added restrictions to Avondale Estates’ plan for a road diet, or cutting U.S. 278 from five to three lanes from Ashton Place to Sams Crossing. In a recent presentation Joel Mann, who’s consulting with the city on a potential redesign for U.S. 278, said that GDOT is concerned about the “extra delay” created by a road diet.

“This is a state highway,” he said, “part of a regional connection, and they are not looking to design roads with lower speeds.”

But Mann added there are certain things Avondale can do: cut the road to four lanes, with medians that include plantings; crosswalks witih overhead flashing lights in conjunction with the medians; wider sidewalks and added sidewalks along the city’s western corridor where none currently exist. The planned bicycle lanes, for now, are eliminated, along with the roundabout at the Clarendon Avenue/U.S. 278 intersection.