Road improvements being planned for Buckhead Village

By Collin Kelley Intown Editor

Road widening, restriping and bike lanes are coming to a number of Buckhead’s busiest streets.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is working on the widening of Piedmont Road north of the Buckhead Loop to Habersham Drive.

The widening is intended to create a continuous center left-turn lane from Habersham to the signal intersection at Piedmont Center.

“This will get turning vehicles out of the travel lanes and free up the bottleneck there, especially in the afternoon,” Jim Durrett, executive director of the Buckhead Community Improvement District, told members of the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods on March 12.

“Utility relocation is a mess right now, but the work is scheduled to be finished late summer,” he added.

Durrett also outlined several other projects that are proposed in or near Buckhead Village. They include:

• A plan to restripe West Paces Ferry between Slaton Drive and Peachtree Road. Durrett said a recent reconfiguration of the road created lanes that confused drivers. The new design will return the road closer to the way it was before, with two travel lanes in each direction and a two-way left turn lane. The westbound bike lane will be removed, Durrett said, and the eastbound bike lane will be improved.

The changes also would help drivers turning right from West Paces to get out of the through-traffic lane more quickly, he said. The new design also adds a mid-block crossing at Whole Foods to the Buckhead Plaza 1 building. The crossing will have a pedestrian refuge at the center and a rapid flashing beacon to warn motorists of people in the crosswalk.

• New lane configurations created by restriping the roads are planned for Pharr Road between Peachtree and Piedmont roads.

• GDOT also is close to approving plans for improvements to Peachtree Road from Maple Drive to Shadowlawn Drive through Buckhead Village.

“You’ll see a new Peachtree along that stretch in 2017,” Durrett said. One plan proposes two lanes in either direction with a center turn lane and bike lanes on each side. The other plan proposes a combination two-lane and three-lane road, with the number of lanes in each direction likely switching at West and East Wesley. “GDOT is still refining these plans. There will be meetings where the plans will be shown and to get public feedback,” Durrett said.

One person attending the meeting pointed out that some plans create bicycle lanes, and asked why more bike lanes were needed. Durrett responded that drivers and cyclists were going to have to learn to share the road.

“We are collectively adolescent when it comes to sharing the road and how streets are used,” he said. “Cyclists need to learn to behave, people who drive cars need to learn to behave. Bikes as a mode of transportation are here to stay and growing.”

Jessica Guilfoil Killeen, WHNP-BC

Main Office: Piedmont Hospital Campus 105 Collier Rd NW, Suite 1080 Atlanta, GA 30309 404-352-2850

Satellite Office: Northside Hospital Campus 960 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 336 Atlanta, GA 30342 404-352-2850 www.mcdanielanddurrett.com