At Issue: Will more roundabouts solve traffic issues in Gwinnett?

We wonder how much growth Decatur can handle before reaching a saturation point. This will almost certainly become popular fodder in this fall’s campaigns for two city commission seats. In fact Brian Smith and John Ridley, the first two to announce their candidacy, have already weighed in.

“I want to protect the vibrancy and diversity we love in a time of rapid growth and change … [which requires] careful planning for the inevitable growth and development,” Smith said.

Ridley has been more explicit, calling on the city to terminate its contract with Cousins Properties and use the Callaway Building property to carve out more land for city schools.

“The city needs to quit putting the profit motives of developers ahead of the school system [which has] an enrollment and facilities problem,” Ridley said.

Here is what some readers had to say:

Rapid growth in Decatur is threatening to change the nature of this community. Modest older homes with their small neighborhood charms are increasingly being replaced with large, bland, upscale houses. The same is occurring with apartment and townhouse properties. A densely populated city with relatively little public green space is only getting worse. And with an influx of wealthy people, comes an influx of wealthy expectations and attitudes. It is "natural" in a way, but surely Decatur's public policy officials can develop "right-sizing" policies to manage such growth in keeping with Decatur's historical identity as a diverse, open-minded community. –Vince Hill

The intent of the Decatur City Commission in issuing high-density housing permits was to take some of the pressure off homeowners for the taxes. We were paying for the churches and college and county office buildings, as well as our own property taxes. We needed a bigger tax digest. Now we have an issue with school over-crowding. If there was a miscalculation and a single parent with one child moves into these one-bedroom apartments to escape DeKalb County schools there will be a serious problem. One immediate fix is to make sure we are collecting impact fees on the developers who are tearing down houses once owned by the elderly population and putting up homes for families with two school-aged kids. – Ray Glier

Growth and development, in and of itself, is not a bad thing as it helps renew and re-energize the city and its infrastructure. It also affirms the attractiveness of Decatur, from the charming homes to the vibrant business district to the highly-regarded school district. However, as a city whose boundaries are limited in growth opportunities, the laws of supply and demand will soon overwhelm the capacity of the city's current infrastructure to provide high-quality services to our residents and businesses. – Baoky Vu

One of the primary reasons we just moved to Decatur was the strong sense of community we get when we frequently came here for restaurants and festivals. I'm for growth but maybe one way to preserve the sense of community and control traffic would be to block off the streets permanently between Commerce and Trinity and allow no traffic. Turn them into mall/pedestrian/bike ways only. Provide parking on Commerce and Trinity for visitors or Decatur residents not living within walking or biking distance to still visit stores, restaurants and festivals but preserve sense of community. While growth and diversity is great, uncontrolled and unmanaged growth is not. – Craig Cuddeback

This has been the topic of conversation for the last couple of months. What is going on in Decatur? Our city commissioners are turning our small, sophisticated close community into a dense, cold, crowded place. Our taxes are going to sky rocket due to more students and more services needed. Senior citizens are quite worried about what will happen to them. Stop the madness now! – Jenny Shepherd

Thirty years ago, Decatur developed its Town Center Plan, a progressive, new-urbanist vision for downtown. Great schools, diverse restaurants and a strong sense of community are attracting a flood of new downtown residents, making that vision a reality. With success, new challenges have come to light. To maintain quality of life, Decatur needs to invest in public spaces, sidewalks, crosswalks, streetscapes and its tree canopy. The city must welcome growth in a controlled manner that continues to attract people downtown. It needs a comprehensive downtown plan to make sure that Decatur remains the best place to live in Georgia. – George Dusenbury, President, Downtown Decatur Neighbors

Decatur’s Town Center Plan from the early 1980’s identified higher-intensity development in the downtown corridor as a solution to the decline the city witnessed in 1960’s and 1970’s. The embrace of downtown development was affirmed in community-wide and public-driven strategic plans put forth in the late 1990’s and again in 2010 and not only stemmed the decline but helped propel downtown Decatur to become one of the most successful urban landscapes in the southeastern United States. The city is not in position to limit the profit motives of developers. The city has provided a framework in which developers help the city to reach its goal of a successful urban environment at the core of the community—without developers, there is no downtown development.

Further, given the city's land restrictions, it shouldn't"carve out" more property for schools. Decatur's urban school district is the key, along with quality downtown development, to the success and desirability of the community. However, that does not mean that more tax exempt land should be handed over to the school district. Our current school board and school leaders have proven their ability to problem solve in the face of growing enrollment; I'm confident they can continue to help us provide the highest quality education for our children on the property they currently own. – Geoff Koski

In less than half a decade, Decatur's character has dramatically changed and one can argue, not necessarily for the better – its distinction as the densest city in Georgia is a dubious one at best. The club-for-growth mentality has prevailed without serious consideration of the consequences of unfettered development and its effect on the quality of life of its citizens. In my fixed opinion, the city fathers have been remiss in their duty to deal with the concerns of a substantial portion of the citizenry and have pursued an ideology of growth and development sans limitation with rabid zeal. – T. Donovan

In a recent and sometimes-heated exchange on social media, residents debated the pros and cons of the growing use of roundabouts in Gwinnett.

Existing roundabouts have been constructed in Dacula, Duluth, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Suwanee and Sugar Hill. Plans are underway for two new roundabouts along Pharrs Road in Snellville.

“Roundabouts provide a reduction in the number of conflicts in the intersection, and drivers at roundabouts have more time to detect other vehicles and correct for driver mistakes. Roundabouts also reduce the costs for maintenance and operations in comparison to a signalized intersection,” said Gwinnett DOT Director Alan Chapman.

According to a National Cooperative Highway Research Program report that looked at roundabouts in ten countries, “roundabouts have improved both overall crash rates and, particularly, injury crash rates in a wide range of settings (urban, suburban, and rural) and previous forms of traffic control (two-way stop and signal).”

Lilburn has two of the newest roundabouts and Police Chief Bruce Hedley said he thinks over time the roundabouts will both increase safety by slowing speeds and improve traffic flow.

A recent feasibility study completed by Georgia Tech students found the potential for three roundabouts. While only a recommendation, the study identified Peachtree Corners Circle at Medlock Bridge Road, Medlock Bridge Road at Bush Road and Peachtree Corners Circle at Eastman Trail as possible roundabouts.

What do you think? Do roundabouts improve safety, calm traffic flow and eliminate unnecessary waiting for traffic lights to change?

Send comments to communitynews@ajc.com. Some will be published next week.