Atlanta, once a city of metal plates, became a city of bright orange barricades during 2020. Some are part of ongoing construction projects, like those lining the Piedmont Avenue Light Individual Transportation (LIT) lane. Others, like the barricades on Lee Street, were placed as a traffic calming measure on a wide street in need of a retrofit, providing a shortened crossing distance for people walking and using wheelchairs, and a temporary space for people on bikes and scooters. Finally, some were intended to prevent street racing and stunt driving, like the plastic barricades that were bumped into the LIT lane, blocking the path for people trying to bike or scoot in it.
Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta, GA
While we understand the need for short-term solutions, we want permanent improvements.
- Piedmont Avenue: as the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) enters its second full fiscal year, they will be looking for continued growth and the capacity to do more projects in-house. By being able to do more with City resources rather than waiting on contractors, we will be looking for installation times for lane separation infrastructure to improve.
- On Lee Street, we’d like to see a lane conversion to make the crossing to transit as safe and accessible as possible. Making this facility permanent would benefit people going to the MARTA station or the Atlanta University Center on bike or scooter. Right now, the barricades seem to be getting hit by cars and bumped askew.
- On Edgewood Avenue, members of the community requested the plastic barricades to help address a number of challenges, but we need a better solution to maintain the painted LIT lane free of obstructions as well. The business community and area neighborhood organizations are working with the ATLDOT on plans to restripe the street and LIT lane. But keeping that space free of cars and other obstructions so people biking, scooting, or using wheelchairs can roll safely will require either a barrier or a different approach to the street altogether. Unfortunately, the street as striped today doesn’t have enough consistent space for a barrier that meets LIT lane design guidelines.
The barricades have been in place for a few months and we’ve had a chance to see how they work — or don’t work — in different situations. On some parts of the corridor, they are in the right place and provide a protected experience but parked cars still block the lane:
Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta, GA
On others, they’ve been pushed into the LIT lane and block the path, forcing people to swerve into general traffic:
Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta, GA
Finally, in other spots they’ve been moved entirely off the street and now block the sidewalk:
Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta, GA
We’d like your feedback. Would you like us to:
- Advocate to remove the orange water barricades currently blocking the LIT lane on Edgewood Avenue?
- Advocate for street restriping followed by a bigger redesign?
- Push for both?