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U.S. 29 may get a makeover

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@TheCitizenNews.com

The plan to make intersection improvements and add bicycle lanes, sidewalks, bus stop shelters and benches along Roosevelt Highway in South Fulton County from Palmetto to College Park moved a step closer to completion in the past week.

Study recommendations for the final proposal of the transportation and transit portion of the Roosevelt Highway (U.S. 29) Corridor Enhancement Plan were presented and discussed during the past week in Union City, Palmetto, Red Oak and College Park. The study is sponsored by South Fulton Revitalization, Inc.

Facilitator and MPH & Associates President Mary Huffstetler presented recommendations from the draft proposal at each public information meetings. Graphic illustrations of the project segments from College Park to Palmetto lined the wall March 7 at the Union City Depot.

“We’re now at the final phase of the study,” Huffstetler told the small group in attendance. “We know it’s a good study and a great plan. We’re looking forward to it being implemented. We want the project to create an environment that encourages pedestrian activity as well as intersection improvements and safety.”

With those objectives in mind, Huffstetler laid out the recommended improvements along the corridor. Recommended along the roadway in both directions throughout the 16.5-mile corridor, excluding the area inside Fairburn city limits, are five-foot-wide bicycle lanes.

In Palmetto, the study proposes sidewalks through much of downtown, six intersection improvements and one bus-stop bench. In Union City, the need for four bus shelters and two intersection improvements was cited. Recommendations for the area between Union City and College Park included two bus shelters, one intersection improvement and one bus-stop bench. Intersection improvements include such features as installing sidewalks with handicap accessible approaches at each corner, marked corsswalks, installation of decorative mast arms on traffic signals, pedestrian crossing signals, landscaping and lighting.

As it currently exists, the corridor is lined with 120 bus stops, one bus shelter, 11,000 feet of sidewalk mainly in cities and encompasses 100 intersections but only seven crosswalks.

More than two years into the planning process, the project has Transportation Enhancement Activity funding through Georgia Dept. of Transportation. The final plan is expected in late March with implementation of the $300,000 project over the next five years.