Downtown parking deck

"The Athens-Clarke Commission is on track to pick a developer to work with on a $20 million downtown Athens parking deck, " reports the Banner-Herald.

Atlanta-based Batson-Cook Development is the frontrunner to design, build and fund part of a long-planned mixed-use parking deck in a surface lot near the Georgia Theatre.

The public-private partnership would be a first for Athens, although they're common in other cities, such as Greenville, S.C., and Savannah.

The preliminary plan consists of a six-story structure that looks like a building, not a parking deck. It includes 520 parking spaces, 12,000 square feet of ground-level retail space along West Clayton and Washington streets, 23,000 square feet of high-end office space on the top floor and a rooftop garden.

ABH provides this artist rendering of the deck as well:

Could any of the parking go below street level?

Bike racks and/or lockers, scooter parking, and an Athens Transit bus stop would be nice as well.

The roof-top garden and mixed-use aspects sound very cool, and it's a relief that the architects are trying to avoid the grim aesthetics of a parking deck.

Budget crunches, bailouts, and transit

ABH features a story today discussing Georgia's deepening financial problems. But, with the prospect of both federal bailout money for states and another vote on a TSPLOST bill, we may see significant investment in transportation infrastructure. Hopefully, that means rail lines, buses, and rail-trails.

Excerpt:

Congestion in cities, the desire for rural highways to help recruit employers and environmentalists' hopes for mass transit all converge in a quest for additional funding for transportation.

Business groups and environmentalists are lobbying for a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would allow groups of counties to levy a regional sales tax to pay for regional transportation projects. A similar proposal passed the House and fell three votes short in the Senate in the final moments of last year's session.

Senators said there wasn't time to work their way through the proposal's complexities, such as assuring that voters in counties that reject the regional tax would not have to pay it.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has said he wants the Senate to pass its version of the bill this week, while House leaders have said there is little reason to rush, since the matter can't be put on the ballot for public ratification until the next general election in 2010.

Why do these media scribes lean so heavily on the word environmentalists?

Public transportation is also very much a social justice issue, a poverty alleviation strategy, a traffic reduction tactic, and a jobs creation program. It's also a fundamentally more sutainable approach to transportation planning. When gas prices spiked last summer, which they'll likely do again, transit ridership increased dramatically. In the event of another fuel price increase, having a reliable, extensive public transportation network also makes sense for economic security.

Thankfully, our local officials have expressed support for a TSPLOST approach to funding transit and have shared this with the Athens area delegation to the state capitol.

School Board vote

In last night's school board meeting, the vote was cast to do away with "school choice," meaning that next fall students will attend their neighborhood school, rather than their preferred school.
The district started seriously considering this option back when gas prices were $4+.

After months of deliberation, the Clarke County Board of Education agreed Thursday to do away with school choice and accept a plan that could send up to half of all students to new schools next fall.

Faced with a projected budget shortfall of nearly $6 million over the next two years, board members approved the plan, which could save up to $1.2 million a year in transportation costs, by a unanimous 8-0 vote. Board President Charles Worthy was absent.

The change - which will assign each elementary student to a single school rather than allowing parents to choose from a short list of schools - will ease overcrowding at some schools and encourage more parent involvement, administrators said.

Many parents are understandably upset that their children will change schools, but, from a transportation perspective, this makes far more sense. It will save money and resources and will ultimately create more cohesive neighborhoods.

Downtown deck and other trans plans running behind

ABH reports on the delays facing the proposed downtown parking deck as well as the Pulaski Greenway and other projects:

A new downtown parking deck, delayed by negotiations with developers to form a public-private partnership, is running two years behind schedule.

Most of the 33 projects in Athens-Clarke County's $122 million of sales tax-funded construction projects are already done or will be completed on time, but the deck is one of a handful that have fallen behind.

If planning and construction went as originally planned, the deck at the corner of West Washington and North Lumpkin streets already would have opened; now it is scheduled to be finished in August 2011.

Nine other sales tax-funded projects - trails along Pulaski Creek and an unused East Athens railroad; police headquarters renovations; a computerized police dispatch and record-keeping system; a bridge to East Athens Community Park; bridge repairs; Solid Waste Department offices; a new Sandy Creek Nature Center wing; and a diversion center - also are running behind, SPLOST program manager Don Martin told commissioners at a work session Tuesday.

The delays are not unusual and are for "very valid reasons" such as negotiating with railroad companies to buy land, Athens-Clarke Manager Alan Reddish said.

Clarke applies for sidewalk improvement grants

"Athens-Clarke County is going after a half-million-dollar state grant to make Athens students' walk to school safer," reports the Banner-Herald.

The improvements would include crosswalk countdown timers that show pedestrians how many seconds are left until the light changes, school zone beacons that display cars' speeds to discourage drivers from speeding, upgraded crosswalks and better signs.
...

Committees of Clarke County School District administrators, teachers and parents recommended the seven schools because they're located in areas where children are most likely to walk or ride bicycles to school, district spokesman Mike Wooten said.

The DOT started its Safe Routes to School program in 2005 to offer funding and advice to local governments and school districts on improving safety for children who walk or bike to school.

Athens residents independently formed a volunteer group by the same name [aka Safe Routes Athens] around the same time. Members of the local Safe Routes to School association traipsed all over Clarke County mapping gaps in sidewalks and other areas where traffic might pose a danger to students on foot.

...

Some commissioners said last Thursday that they were irked at the officials who wrote a document for the commission to approve because it did not give enough credit to the citizen Safe Routes for School group.

"We ask that citizens partner with us and that should be reflected in the report," Commissioner Andy Herod said.

The oversight wasn't intentional and will be fixed in the version of the document the commission will approve Tuesday, said David Clark, director of the Athens-Clarke Transportation and Public Works Department.

Also not mentioned is the fact that Safe Routes Athens is a sponsored program of BikeAthens.

Hopefully, the approved version of the document will make note of this fact, but overall we're glad the applications will be submitted and hopeful the grants will be awarded so that Athens can implement these important upgrades to pedestrian infrastructure!

low down & dirty

from ABH:

A homeless man told Athens-Clarke police someone took his bicycle and its trailer, containing his clothes and other miscellaneous items, from a restaurant on Oconee Street at the Athens Perimeter.

The man said the thief took his possessions, valued at $1,769, from the Waffle House at 1310 Oconee St. between 9 and 10 p.m. Monday.

Scoundrels!
I hope he gets his ride back. If not, he needs to contact AAHS to see if he can get one from our Bike Recycling Program.

FYI! Hearing on Rail-Trail today

The Banner Herald reports:

Athens-Clarke County is close to securing final approval to convert an abandoned East Athens railroad into a trail.

A state-mandated public hearing at 5 p.m. today at the Multimodal Transportation Center on East Broad Street is the final step before the state Department of Transportation releases a $1.2 million federal grant and allows Athens-Clarke officials to begin designing and buying land for the rails-to-trails project.

"We feel very confident this project is going to go forward and be successful," county Natural Resources Administrator Mike Wharton said.

County officials will seek input on plans for the trail, but those familiar with the project shouldn't expect to hear anything new.

If you are not familiar with the plans or if you want to tell the county to keep as much of the Murmur trestle as possible, you should definitely go!

Accident

From the ABH:

Bicyclist struck while riding on dark road

A Commerce man is in fair but critical condition Wednesday at Athens Regional Medical Center after he was struck by a pickup while riding his bike Tuesday on Georgia Highway 98, according to the Georgia State Patrol's Athens post.

Troopers were called to the scene of the wreck about 5:45 p.m. and found Daniel Hill, 25, of Commerce had been rear-ended by a Ford F-350 pickup traveling behind him on the dark highway near Thurston Williams Road, state patrol operators said.

Hill had been riding his bicycle with no lights or reflectors, troopers said. Neither the driver or Hill was cited, according to the patrol.

Link to story.

West side Publix plan needs revisions for bike/ped safety

From Saturday's ABH:

A new westside grocery store, shopping center and subdivision will be delayed after Athens-Clarke officials told developers the plans need changes.

Madison Retail LLC is seeking a rezoning to allow 94,000 square feet of retail space, including a Publix, 81 houses and eight apartments, on 38 acres off Jefferson Road just west of the Athens Perimeter.

Athens-Clarke planners raised dozens of concerns about the proposal, prompting the county planning commission Thursday night to tell developers to revise the plans.

A suburban-style big-box retailer, strip mall and subdivision aren't appropriate for the site, one of the last wooded properties in the area, planners said. The development should be redesigned so it's safer and more convenient for bicyclists and pedestrians, houses should be clustered to preserve green space and a pond on the property should be protected, they said.

About 100 neighborhood residents came to the Athens-Clarke Planning Commission meeting to oppose the development.

It will bring more noise and traffic to the area, they said.

The development also is unnecessary, they said, because the half-vacant Homewood Hills shopping center nearby could be redeveloped, and another developer plans to entice a grocery store to the Oak Grove development near the Clarke-Jackson county line.

The planning commission, an advisory group to the Athens-Clarke Commission, did not make a formal recommendation, but told the developers to revise the plans and resubmit them.

The plans can be resubmitted any time, but planning commissioners said they don't expect to review the project again until January or February.

The developers said in their rezoning application that they intend to start work on the Publix and retail space as soon as the rezoning and building permits are approved, but they'll wait to build the residential portion until the economy improves.

Friday accident- Baxter @ Lumpkin

News from ABH:

A bicycle rider was severely injured Friday evening when he ran into the back of a pickup, Athens-Clarke police said.

The Gainesville man was riding south on Lumpkin Street about 5 p.m. Friday when a truck made a left turn with a green light from Baxter Street to the northbound lane of Lumpkin, police said.

The driver saw the rider and tried to accelerate out of the way, while the rider tried to stop, but the bicycle collided with the truck's rear driver's side fender, according to police.

The rider suffered a head injury and a severe leg injury and still was in intensive care in St. Mary's Hospital on Saturday, Athens-Clarke police Sgt. Frank Smith said.

Police issued no citations in the collision, pending the outcome of an investigation.

We hope for a full & speedy recovery for this guy.

Wear a helmet out there, and ride defensively, especially on game weekends. I rode through downtown yesterday after the game- the traffic volume was ridiculous, and driver manners were somewhat...lacking.

UPDATE (10/20)
There was also a pedestrian hit and run late Saturday night.

Paying to park through dinner

ABH relays that "the Athens Downtown Development Authority wants to extend pay-to-park hours on downtown streets another two hours to 7 p.m."
Also,

The two recommendations the ADDA board approved Tuesday will be added to several other parking changes the county commission will consider. During the ADDA's September meeting, board members voted to ask commissioners to raise the fee for on-street parking from 25 cents to 50 cents an hour, as well as increase parking deck fees and fines for overstaying the allotted meter time.

These changes may discourage driving downtown, which is a good thing, so long as there are plenty of safe, equally efficient choices for getting downtown (and home again).

Toward that end, be sure to stop by the ACC Library tonight or on the 29th (3:00 or 6:00 pm) to provide feedback on improving Athens Transit service!

Road & development plans

Two items from the ABH today:

1. The state Department of Transportation will hold an informational meeting this afternoon about a proposed interchange at the Athens Perimeter intersection with Peter Street and Olympic Drive.

   The meeting will be held from 5-7 p.m. at Stroud Elementary School, 715 Fourth St.

   Visitors will be able to view interchange plans, ask questions and make comments. There will be no formal presentation.

2. Oconee [county] approves Epps Bridge shopping center despite environmental & traffic concerns:

Oconee commissioners voted 3-1 Tuesday to rezone the site from agricultural use to allow the shopping center. Commissioner Margaret Hale voted no.

Commissioners were more concerned about the problems visitors to Epps Bridge Centre will create for already-clogged traffic in the area, especially if plans for a new state road never come to pass.

The entire project hinges on a road that hasn't been built, the Oconee Connector extension, with which state Department of Transportation officials still have not moved forward.

Oconee officials hope the shopping center, if approved, and the road - if it's ever built - likely will be finished about the same time, early in the next decade.

But, the potential lack of access, along with environmental concerns, kept a regional planning organization from recommending the project last summer.

The Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center found in its nonbinding July review that Epps Bridge Centre would not be in the best interest of the region.

Hearings for new transit plan

Athens Transit will host public hearing Oct. 15 and 29 to take comments as it revises its five-year transit development plan.

The plan update will assess the operations of Athens Transit to ensure that the system meets the needs of the community. Comments are welcome about routes, schedules and transit amenities.

The hearings will be held from 3-4:30 p.m. and 6-7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 and 29 at the Athens-Clarke County Library, 2025 Baxter St.

For more information, call Athens Transit at (706) 613-3430.

Link to story.

Kids plea for bus stop on Timothy Rd

The following letter to the editor was published in the ABH today:

Dear editor of the Athens Banner-Herald: Hi. We are third-graders at Timothy Road Elementary School. We are writing because we need a city bus stop in front of our school. There are a lot of events at Timothy that require parents to come. Without a city bus stop, some parents can't come. Sometimes their cars break down or they might not have a car. They might not have any money for gas.

If parents didn't come, then kids would be heartbroken. Kids also feel embarrassed when parents can't come because they don't have gas money or a car. If kids are sad and embarrassed, then they can't learn. Please help us learn by writing to the commissioners of Athens to convince them to put a city bus stop in front of Timothy. Please contact our school counselor, Ms. Saundra Arnold-Smith, if you have any questions.

Thank you for helping us.

Christopher Dellaria

Sylvia Primm

Brian Lee

• The writers are students in Kari Speakman's third-grade class.

It doesn't get more direct than that. Funding transit and providing a full range of transportation choices is fundamentally a social justice issue.

Gas shortages in NE Georgia, Transit ads

ABH reports.

Excerpt:

Gas should be available across the Southeast in the next week, once Gulf Coast refineries resume normal production levels, analysts say. The storm, which struck the Texas coast 10 days ago, caused less damage to refineries than feared, but some refiners still are working to get electricity restored and their equipment restarted - a process that can take several days.

For now, the major pipelines that deliver fuel to many parts of the eastern U.S. are ready for shipments - the supplies just aren't available.

Meanwhile, it's likely that gasoline will get more expensive in short order following a $20-per-barrel spike in the price of oil Monday.

Although officials are working to reassure drivers, area convenience store owners and their customers were finding it hard to stay calm when so many gas pumps are out of service.

Also, the Commission has decided to proceed with a tentative ads-on-buses revenue generating program. This has the potential to greatly stabilize and boost local transit funding.

BikeAthens commends the Commission's commitment to exploring funding for transit expansion!

Fatal bicycle accident

Very depressing news from the ABH:

A 25-year-old Athens man died Thursday from injuries he suffered last week when a sport utility vehicle hit his bicycle in southern Clarke County.

Brandon D. Miller was biking on Macon Highway at about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 11 when a man driving a Chevrolet Tahoe turned from Macon Highway onto South Lumpkin Street and collided with Miller’s bike, Athens-Clarke police said.

The impact threw the cyclist onto the SUV’s hood and then onto the ground, police said.

Miller was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, police said, and he died on Thursday.

Police noted that Miller’s bicycle wasn’t equipped with lights, but said an investigation was continuing.

It could not be immediately learned this morning if the investigation had been completed.

Our deepest condolences to this young man's family.

Pay attention, be visible, be aware, and be safe out there.

Rewards for carpooling at ARMC

ABH reports that Athens Regional is providing incentives for employees who carpool.

Getting closer to ad revenue for transit

See today's article in ABH.

Four Athens-Clarke commissioners said Tuesday they want to experiment with the ads within limits, hoping they'll bring in revenue to market Athens Transit or add more bus service.

"We're going to try this," Commissioner Carl Jordan said. "We can reverse direction at any time."

County officials had said they were concerned about free-speech lawsuits if they rejected an ad because of its offensive content, but by only selling ads to commercial entities and banning all political ads, the county can protect itself from lawsuits, county Attorney Bill Berryman said.

If officials allowed some nonprofit advocacy [link added]or political groups to run ads, they'd have to allow all of them, Berryman said.

Increased parking fees for downtown discussed

From today's ABH:

The Athens Downtown Development Authority will ask the Athens-Clarke Commission to raise parking fees and fines to encourage drivers to turn over on-street spaces more quickly or to use downtown decks, as well as generate more revenue for the ADDA.

Full story.

Transportation news roundup

In today's ABH, a piece on the undeniable growth of scooter & moped use in Athens.

FYI: "Moped drivers who scoot along in bike lanes will be ticketed."

Another article in the ABH discusses plans to ease traffic on Mitchell Bridge Rd by moving cars to Athens West Pkwy.

And from last week's Flagpole, coverage of delays with UGA's Alternative Transportation Program:

With the start of UGA's fall semester this month, perhaps no section of the University's staff is more anxious - or busier - than Parking Services. August has typically been "a zoo," in the words of Parking Services chief Don Walter. After getting parking permits sold and distributed to faculty, staff and students for the year, Walter's staff then has to enforce regulations, assist confused customers and otherwise try to keep the campus's parking system - which has been in a process of refinement through great effort over the past several years - working smoothly.

As of the first week of August, though, Walter could already begin his tally of aggravated individuals: at least a couple of users of Parking Services' Alternative Transportation Program, or ATP, who were told that the program will not exist in the month of August this year.

Don't forget our Annual Meeting is tomorrow at Cine, 7 pm- Come for the food, friends, films, and our first Art Bike Auction!