What’s up with F’ville? ‘Streetscaping’

Wed, 09/26/2007 - 3:50pm
By: Ben Nelms

Graphic above shows current and future work (in brown and green) to add a new look and a pedestrian-friendly flavor to a portion of Fayetteville’s historic district, including the area along Ga. Highway 85 between Stonewall Avenue and north beyond Lanier Avenue and between Lanier and Tiger Trail. Graphic provided by the city of Fayetteville.

There is a new look coming to a portion of Fayetteville’s historic district.

Currently underway with completion expected in December, the “Lanier Avenue and Highway 85 Streetscape” project will provide pedestrian-friendly accents to Lanier and along Ga. Highway 85 from Stonewall Avenue and extending north of Lanier.

Aside from the obvious aesthetics, the streetscape project will link the amphitheater and The Villages to the downtown square, said City Engineer Don Easterbrook.

The impetus for the streetscape work now under way began several years ago under a Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) project. When completed, the streetscape project will add 8-foot brick pavers, benches, a bicycle lane and curbside trees and street lights along Lanier from Hwy. 85 to Tiger Trail, the addition of a median just north of Lanier on Hwy. 85 and improvements to the sidewalk and crossing areas on Hwy. 85 between Lanier and Stonewall, said Easterbrook.

The total project cost is $1 million, with 80 percent of the funds coming from federal money and the remaining 20 percent from local SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funds, said Easterbrook.

Currently the most visible portion of the project can be seen along the south side of Lanier Avenue between Hwy. 85 and Tiger Trail, where a noticeable alteration is being made to the curbside and the left lane primarily used for left turn traffic.

Once completed, the redesigned streetscape will include an 8-foot brick paver sidewalk and a 4-foot landscaped strip between the sidewalk and the roadway. Along both sides of the sidewalk will be crepe myrtles spaced 50 feet apart with historic-looking pedestrian street lights spaced between the trees, Easterbrook said.

Also lining the south side of the street will be benches and trash receptacles conducive to pedestrian activities. On the north side of Lanier, project plans call for installation of a four-foot bicycle lane.

Next up on the project will be those improvements affecting the area on Hwy. 85 just north of Lanier and along Hwy. 85 between Lanier and Stonewall.

The most prominent feature north of Lanier will be the installation of a median island between Dunkin’ Donuts and the existing median.

With the rationale of helping identify the downtown area and to make it aesthetically pleasing, the median will be landscaped with Asiatic jasmine and holly or similar plants. The project also calls for brick pavers to be installed along the west side of the roadway.

Plans for the one-block section of Hwy. 85 between Lanier and Stonewall calls for installing brick pavers in the crosswalks at both intersections and along the sidewalk on the west side of the street.

Also on the west side, curbs will be enlarged and the sidewalk will be enlarged near Stonewall in the area where parking is already prohibited.

Project work along Hwy. 85 might necessitate the temporary closure of a lane during low-traffic periods, Easterbrook said.

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Submitted by msteele on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 1:10pm.

I read this article and was sickened by a detail that may have slipped by most readers. "The total project cost is $1 million, with 80 percent of the funds coming from federal money..." Why, pray tell, should hard working tax payers in Idaho, New Mexico, Nebraska...any state but Georgia, have to pony up money for a Fayetteville, GA beautification project? Oops...scratch that...why should Chinese investors who purchase US Treasury Bonds, and fund our gargantuan federal deficit, be called upon to further our national indebtedness for some trees and brick pavers? If Fayetteville wants to doll-up, more power to us, but this is NOT a federal government issue. Pay for it locally, or don't do it. But since that type of fiscal discipline is beyond our collective self control, at least make sure to roll down your window as you drive through that intersection and enjoy the strong smell of PORK in the air.

Git Real's picture
Submitted by Git Real on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 1:36pm.

The loud sound you are hearing is our tax dollars (subsidized by the Chinese)being sucked down some black hole. Couple those expenditures with the $10,000,000.00 South Fulton / Clayton Recreational Facility located in North Fayette County and we're talking some real big wasteful pork dollars.

But, it'll all look perty for a little while and our Soccer Mom's will be impressed.

**** GIT REAL TOUGH ON CRIME ****

"That man was Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard".

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