MLK Medians, A Safety Hazard??

If you drive down MLKing Jr. Drive, you will see medians, that most of the community did not want, are being installed and lanes are being reduced from 4 to 2 with bike lanes.  Emergency vehicles, especially fire trucks may not be able to go around a MARTA bus, garbage truck, GA Power truck (working on power lines), etc. as MLKJr Drive between I-20 and Northside Drive.  This could be a huge public safety disaster. Yet, everyone is passing the buck.

Here are the facts:

MLKing Jr. Drive, a major thoroughfare and state highway, will now have medians that are “cute” yet dysfunctional.  They may actually impede the ability of emergency vehicles (especially fire trucks and ambulances) to navigate and will grossly impede traffic for delivery trucks (including UPS & FedEx), tractor trailers, utility service trucks (including GA Power, as power outages are on the rise), stalled vehicles, accident vehicles, police traffic stops, etc.

After I spoke to ReNew/TSPLOST spokesperson, Joshua Williams (newly appointed ATL Deputy COO) and Public Works Commissioner James Jackson, neither are not sure of the lane measurements.  Neither could assure me or the fire department if the lanes are wide enough….Are you kidding me?

Besides, there was a huge community meeting held at the Adamsville Rec Center to discuss this massive ReNew/TSPLOST expenditure about 2-3 years ago.  It was hosted by “then” City Councilman C.T. Martin.  It was jam packed with residents against the MLKJr Drive medians and reduction of lanes.  Other elected officials attended.  Outcome was: Since residents did not want the MLK medians, between I-20 (at Westview Cemetery) and Fulton Industrial Blvd, Martin said he would keep all four lanes.  Residents asked for sidewalks, street resurfacing, grass cutting & cleaning of highway entrance and exit ramps, etc.

Now it is truly evident this median project has major flaws and is WASTING OUR TAX DOLLARS:

1)  Median UNDER the I-20 overpass at MLK & Bolton Road.  Why is it there??

2) Median in front of Fire Station #5 had to be cut back after being installed because the fire engine could not clear it to turn left out of the station (fire department warned before it was done).

3) Median at shopping center at Lynhurst no longer allows left turn from MLK to this popular shopping center

4) NPU-H and others were against medians for reasons including City not having funds to keep the grass cut in the medians. They were right!  Often the grass gets knee high before the City cuts it.

BEFORE more money is wasted, this project needs a public safety check.  Both ReNew and Public Works say, “It should have been done.”  However, they are not sure if it was done.

Upon speaking in public comments at the City of Atlanta Public Safety meeting on Nov. 13 and the Transportation meeting on Nov. 14, I was told to contact Public Works & ReNew (PW&R). Unfortunately, it is clear that PW&R DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON!  ReNew is blaming their woes on increased construction costs. They:

1) are over budget

2) have pushed project dates on most south and southwest side projects forward by 2-4 years or they have no date at all.

In the meantime Campbellton Road between Dobson Drive and Bent Creek cannot get half a mile of sidewalks so the local kids can walk to the Adams Park Library and Young YMCA without walking in the treacherous street.

Also, Council President Moore, at the Nov. 14 Transportation Committee Meeting asked for a full accounting by District of all ReNew/TSPLOST funds spent, cost of projects currently underway, cost of projects pending on the list.

What are your thoughts??

Homeless in the ATL

Homeless woman on one of Atlanta’s most known streets, Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta.

Homeless in Atlanta.  The Jewel of the South.  Black Mecca.  Home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Civil Rights. How can this be? 

Atlanta is also #1 in the nation for income inequality. Lots of people with money. Lots of people without money.  Almost no one in the middle.  Affordable housing needs unmet with tens of thousands of units needed in Atlanta.  Other cities have similar needs.  But, many believe Atlanta should be doing better than other cities and should be the model . How is it that those with so much not see, care or help solve this rapidly growing social issue?

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, housing is one of humanity’s most basic needs.  So again I ask, how can this be??

It is bad to see homeless men.  It is even worse to see homeless women. Ir is even worse to know some of our homeless are veterans who have proudly served our country.  As we saw recently with a former Cosby cast member working in Trader Joe’s, almost anyone can fall on hard times.  Where is our compassion and humanity?

Across metro Atlanta, we find funds for a $23 million bridge and replace the sidewalks around it.  Meanwhile, other parts of the city have been asking for sidewalks for decades.  How can we solve this huge homeless problem??  Why not have a contest and ask for solutions from our citizens and have them present to a “Shark Tank” like panel that will get matching funds from Atlanta Housing Authority, Invest Atlanta and some local private funders??

I pray that sooner rather than later, Atlanta and cities across  our nation will find the solution to our rapidly growing homeless problem.  I pray the woman in this photo is able to get off the streets soon.

 

Good News: Clayton County Expanding to Heavy Rail Transit

After MARTA started over forty plus years ago, Clayton County voted against transit expanding there. As the demographics have changed, so has the obvious need for transit.  Less than 10 years ago, local bus service was started and then stopped leaving many residents stranded.

Then in 2014, a transit ballot initiative passed overwhelming bringing MARTA bus service a few months later connecting it to jobs at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, the world’s busiest.  And, it connects Clayton to the rail station in College Park. Now, MARTA is announcing plans to add heavy rail along the Norfolk-Southern rail line that is expected to eventually connect Macon and Savannah. That is exciting news for an area that has fell on hard times in the past decade (before 2014) where transit not being an option made every thing from grocery shopping to doctor visits to attending church to visiting friends and family an expensive, infrequent or impossible for Clayton residents who do not own a car.

In the link to the Atlanta Business Chronicle article below, Maria Saporta gives all of the exciting details.

Commuter rail is MARTA’s choice for Clayton County

By Maria Saporta

https://saportareport.com/commuter-rail-is-martas-choice-for-clayton-county/

 

More on what I think:

While this is great news, many advocates are still working to get Clayton County officials and Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to work together to and much needed sidewalks, crosswalks and so MARTA can add more bus shelters and benches.

It is very challenging to walk in the rain, along a muddy path, or in the street (because the muddy path is too slippery) and then wait for the bus in the driving rain.  Add to that scenario a parent with a child in a stroller, someone with a cain, walker, or in a wheelchair. This are very serious safety issues.  Advocates hope to get these safety items in place before a tragedy or lawsuit mandates them.

Recently, I took a MARTA bus (from Northside Drive near the Stockyards), train (at North Avenue station), and another bus (from the College Park station) to a MARTA focus group meeting in Clayton County, I got off the bus on Tara Boulevard where there were no crosswalks across the busy six-lane intersection, no side walks at the bus stop, or along the 1/3 mile walk to the Clayton Library where the meeting was held.  Walking in the shoes of transit dependent riders will truly open your eyes.  It also exposes  why even more people, those who have a car, choose not to put their safety at risk in taking a bus in these areas.  Hmmm.  I wonder if anyone measures these “potential riders”.

Do you use public transportation?  If not, why not?  If you do, how often?  And, what changes would get you to use it more?