Now in Technicolor: A vision for how the Beltline's Eastside Trail will wend through Cabbagetown before turning south toward Memorial Drive! Beltline officials have released a conceptual rendering for the Wylie Street corridor they presented to a neighborhood study group for feedback last month. All changes to sidewalks and Wylie Street are still very much subject to review by the Department of Public Works, but it's clear evidence that plans are moving forward for what will ultimately be a temporary connection route for bicyclists and pedestrians until Beltline transit is implemented.
The changes (see above rendering) would occur from Short Street near the Krog Street Tunnel to Flat Shoals Avenue SE, near the junction of Cabbagetown and Reynoldstown. (Existing sidewalks on Wylie Street will remain). The concept would use what Beltline officials call "a horizontal approach" to traffic calming that bucks the trend of building speed-humps. Instead, the design would attempt to break up long straight-a-ways and narrow travel lanes in an effort to slow traffic.
Modifications to the existing travel lanes on Wylie Street would remove the center stripe and install "advisory bike lanes," which define the cyclist's area with a dashed, white line, officials said. The below description gives the impression that widening Wylie Street is not an option:
"Advisory bike lanes function so that with no on-coming traffic, vehicles are required to stay outside of the bike lines; however, when there are oncoming vehicles from both sides (on Wylie Street), the cyclists and motorists will have to share their directional lane to allow safe passage of all travelers."
Also proposed: modifications to on-street parking that would shift public parking spaces between both sides of the street in another effort to break up the long straight-a-way that is Wylie Street. Pending funding, planted traffic "bulb-outs" (that is, widened pedestrian areas at intersections) and medians could also be installed. "This would provide not only a more aesthetic streetscape," a Beltline website post reads, "but also stormwater management improvement opportunities."
But first things first.
When the new Edgewood Avenue bridge is complete (scheduled for early 2014, with a ramp and stairs connecting Edgewood Avenue to the Beltline), construction will commence to extend the current trail from Irwin Street to DeKalb Avenue. Beltine officials have said this extension is fully funded; a Woodruff Foundation grant is helping the trail eventually reach Memorial Drive, near the Glenwood community. Beyond that, funding is pending.
· Eastside Trail Extension: Streetscape Improvement Concepts Along Wylie Street [Atlanta Beltline]
· Visual Journey: Beltline's Eastside Trail, Two Years Ago [Curbed Atlanta]
· Specifics Unveiled For Betline's Next Extension [Curbed Atlanta]
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