Moving Right Along!

Below is an email I sent to our Traffic Calming Committee (it has all the details you need, and then some). Oh, and the County actually did put out the meeting notice signs!

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Hi All,

Our initial meeting with the County on Tuesday was GREAT and I would like to thank all the 25+ people who showed up!

Quick Summary:

All the streets in the neighborhood qualify to participate in some form of traffic calming solution (i.e. speed tables, center traffic islands, splitter traffic islands, bike lanes, and/or traffic circles). The devices implemented and their locations are entirely up to us as a neighborhood to decide (within engineering guidelines). For those who like details, see my meeting notes at the bottom of this email.

Next action items:

If you want to be on the newly formed Traffic Calming Committee, please let me know ASAP. We need about 10 dedicated people who can meet weekly for 1-2 hours (see below schedule) for the next 2 months.
Begin talking to your neighbors about the project and collect their feedback, etc.
Participate in the neighborhood meetings listed below (and bolded).

Timeline:

Feb 8th (Sun) 7pm: 1st Committee meeting (develop VERY draft plan and discuss strategies/assignments)
Feb 15th (Sun) 7pm: Committee meeting
Feb 17th (Tues) 5:30 pm: Galla’s Pizza (neighborhood dinner out; discuss draft plan, get feedback)
Feb 22nd (Sun) 7pm Committee meeting

March 1st (Sunday) 4:00 pm: HHNA By-Laws Meeting (committee presents draft plan, Q & A, open discussion)
March 8th (Sun) 7pm: Committee meeting
March 15th (Sun) 7pm: Committee meeting
March 17th (Tues) 5:30 pm: Pig N Chik (neighborhood dinner out; discuss draft plan, get feedback)
March 22nd (Sun) 4:00 pm: HHNA meeting AND neighborhood party (present plan, Q & A, get feedback)
March 31st (Tues): Goal of presenting our plan to the county so they can formalize it

* The Sunday Committee meetings will be as needed and can change times/days of the week, depending on the schedules of the members.

Meeting Details:

We have a couple of months (or as long as it takes) to discuss all our options and come up with a draft plan for the County to formalize.
After the County presents a formal plan, we have 12 months to share it with neighbors, tweet it, etc. before it goes to the Board of Commission.
After the Commission vote, we have only 90 days to get all the signatures or the plan fails and we can try again in another 12 months.
The time frame is almost entirely dependant upon us; the county moves quickly once we make a decision and they have had plans take less than 6 months from start to finish.
Neighborhood input is CRITICAL and we need to do everything we can to give people a chance to comment before we finalize the plan.
We also need to be prepared to go door-to-door and share/sell the plan to all neighbors, BEFORE the 90 day time frame for signatures. We do not want any surprises or counter-petitions (which apparently is rather common).
Depending on the options we chose and where, the plan could be voted on and implemented in stages.
The 65% of Yes signatures must be from property owners, not renters; based on our very rough estimates, we will need over 400 signatures.
If we implement something on Admiral and/or Longview, some other streets might have to be included in the plan by default, depending on what is implemented and where. They would also included in the vote and $25/year assessment, but they do NOT have to get any traffic calming devices.
Streets can have one or more (or all) of the traffic calming devices. For example, Longview could have speed tables, traffic islands, bike lanes and potentially traffic circles – and the assessment remains at $25/house.
The county still has to evaluate certain intersections to see if traffic circles will fit.
The neighborhood is responsible for maintaining the grounds of the traffic islands/circles and nothing over 4ft high can be planted.
MARTA buses are not a factor; all devices are designed to accommodate buses. MARTA can choose to reroute.
Based on county statistics and LOTS of anecdotal evidence, traffic tables (as opposed to all other devices) have the greatest success at slowing down traffic and preventing cut-through traffic.
Possible incorporation into the City of Chamblee is not a factor; all traffic calming is done entirely through DeKalb County.
Speed tables are extended to the curbs (i.e. There is not a flat surface for bikes, wheelchairs, etc.).
Speed tables are not installed on grades >8%. This may eliminate portions of Admiral, but other options are still available.
Streets must be wider than 26ft (from one edge of the pavement to the other) in order to have bike lanes.
Bike lanes can be on one or both sides of the street (but it still must be 26ft wide).
Splitter traffic islands take out about 5 feet of county right-away space from yards on both sides.
Speed tables and traffic islands must be 350-500 ft apart from each other.
All traffic calming devices must be 5 ft away from sewer caps, utilities and driveways and 75-150 ft from stop signs or intersections.
In general, the county tries to maintain 10-11 feet of road for each travel lane.
Traffic islands are about 40ft long.
Speed tables are 4 inches high, 10 feet wide, and have 6 ft ramps on both sides (22ft wide total).

That’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks Everyone!

Leslie Freymann

Ps. Regarding sidewalks, LONG story short, it’s not going to happen anytime at all in the next few years due to massive budget shortfalls and very recent changes to the prioritization system. Incorporating into Chamblee might give us more of a chance, but still, funding would be a long way away. Unfortunately, we need to make the traffic calming decisions without the hopes of sidewalks.

Pps. However, I am hopeful the intersections of Longview/Seaman Circle and possibly Ellywn/Admiral will soon be approved to become 4-way stops.