About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2011)
PIM S Prince, Oak/Oconee Corridor Studies Get Plenty of Feedback Public comments have fairly poured in to county planners about the future of two Athens streets, Prince Avenue and Oconee/ Oak streets (which runs from downtown to the bypass, where it becomes Lexington Hoad). Drafts of the two "corridor" studies were com pleted by county planners in October, shortly before Selig Enterprises announced its plans for a controversial new retail/apartment devel opment along Oconee Street. Each street study is over 50 pages long. Aside from the usual demographics and plan ning boilerplate ("Sustainable development should achieve a balance that satisfies the community's housing, recreational, educa tional, commercial, and industrial needs"), some specific recommendations are included. Both studies are available on the Athens- Clarke County website, and public comments will be accepted at least through Jan. 5. The Oak/Oconee study suggests wider sidewalks, trees and retaining walls, as "likely development" will extend eastward from downtown. Connections to nearby Dudley Park and the Greenway should be better marked, and a wider bridge across the Oconee River is needed to accommodate bicycles and sidewalks. County parking requirements should be relaxed, encouraging more on-street park ing and fewer large lots (although parking lots "are not typically driven by zoning minimums but rather by private prerogatives"). Denser housing development would support more neighborhood businesses (and justify more frequent bus service), the study says, but airport noise presents conflicts. Because the corridor is a state-maintained highway (and the Georgia Department of Transportation resists adding amenities like trees and pedes trian crossings that may slow traffic), ACC should consider taking over control from the state and paying the maintenance costs itself, the study suggests. Prominent in the public comments were traffic concerns ("a huge issue at this choke point crossing the Oconee River") and antipa thy to the proposed big-box "anchor" for the Selig development: "Suddenly I may as well live in Buford," one citizen wrote. "I have seen many [earlier] failures in downtown, and this large out-of-scale chain reeks with disaster," commented another. Still another doubted that a "massive-scale big box devel opment" like Selig's "can be located at the heart of town without overwhelming the infra structure, even if it is massively upgraded." "This corridor is dangerous to cross, and cars are known to speed through red lights," a commenter wrote. "As for quality of life, it concerns me that bus stops often don't have at minimum a place to sit." Said another, "a bike and pedestrian path connecting Oak Street with East Campus would help a lot." "When I first moved into this area, I was able to walk to campus by cut ting through the cemetery. Why is that no longer pos sible for the general pub lic?" asked another. (The report suggested approaching the cemetery's owners about dealing with security concerns and making that "remarkable greenspace asset" more accessible.) There were also con cerns about crime: "I have had my cars broken into three times in the last four months." ACC Transportation and Public Works Director David Clark was noncommittal about the impact of the Selig development on traf fic. Clark told Flagpole there's been no count of traffic on the Oconee Street hill—but Selig must submit a traffic impact study that will include that information. Clark's department will then evaluate and comment on Selig's traffic study, but because Oconee Street is d state-maintained highway, it is GDOT that “This is a neighborhood street and should not be treated as a speedway.” A ROUNJO TOv>jM XTS P/AJALS UJEeiC H6CE IKJ Athens <*eoR<S/A fovt Wie »T DO/JOS *JOTHnJ£ B\JT sToDVH06 A U»HU>& L - - - - — - ~ — “DAVID *V\ACU. PoK VV\osT PEopuE I uCMouJ _ That meAub ornt/ve gv KJtxf Loeeu i ujiu. 3eamuCe St/CCESS OR A COWAPCETE must approve or reject it. Typically, Clark said, a developer will propose to "mitigate" traffic problems, perhaps by paying for wider traffic lanes or adding a stoplight. Like the Oak/Oconee study, the county's Prince Avenue Corridor Study draws on ear lier studies and public comments (including the 2004 "Community Approach to Planning Prince Avenue"), plus a couple of UGA land scape architecture projects. Its recommenda tions are mostly general (and similar to those for Oak/Oconee): consider taking over local control from GDOT; tweak zoning and encour age denser residential development; "accom modate" bicycles and relax county parking requirements; conduct a traffic circulation study and make a master, block-by-block streetscape plan (neither was done for either study). Citizens who commented liked the trees and walkable shopping areas along Prince. But fast traffic was the overwhelming concern: "People drive too fast, never signal when they switch lanes and are completely oblivious to pedestrians and bikers," wrote one com menter. "This is a neighborhood street and should not be treated as a speedway," added a business owner. The solution, some sug gested: a center median or reducing Prince to three lanes, a controversial proposal which could be implemented only if the county were to take over Prince between downtown and Milledge. "Policing and high-tech crosswalks only have limited impact," one commenter suggested, and ajlded that three-laning "has improved Milledge, Lumpkin, and Baxter for all users." Some commenters also feared "out- of-scale" development of office or "monster medical" buildings, and criticized "fast-food architecture." John Huie And we welcome Airman 1st Class Iar/rod A. Neujahr, Airman ist Class Erin Tranielio, and Airman i«udass Zachary D. Taylor. Enjoy your stay in Athens, be safe and come back to visit our town. DECEMBER 14. 2011 FLAGPOLE COM 5
