Atlanta is moving forward with a major road redesign on Monroe Drive that city leaders say will improve safety, but some neighbors worry it could make traffic worse and create new problems for surrounding streets.
The Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) broke ground Wednesday morning on the Monroe Drive Safe Streets Project.
The nearly $18.5 million project will convert Monroe Drive from four travel lanes to three — one lane in each direction with a center turn lane — between Armour Drive and 8th Street. The first phase of construction will focus on the stretch from Armour Drive to Park Drive and is expected to take about a year to complete.
ATLDOT said it conducted traffic studies examining current and projected traffic volumes along the corridor. The city says the new three-lane design is intended to slow vehicle speeds and reduce crashes by as much as 30%.
Not everyone is convinced the changes will improve traffic.
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Charlie Kaften, president of the Yorkshire Townhomes Homeowners Association, said he believes Monroe Drive is already too heavily traveled for a lane reduction.
“Monroe Drive, from all the statistics some of us have seen, it’s just about at that threshold where it’s no longer viable to reduce the lanes down,” Kaften said.
Kaften said many neighbors agree safety improvements are needed but believe there are less expensive alternatives.
“It’s not like people don’t think something needs to be done, but others of us have just said, just put traffic lights up and those crosswalks for pedestrians, and it should solve the problem, which would be a lot cheaper,” he said.
Residents also worry construction and the completed project could push drivers onto neighborhood streets to avoid congestion on Monroe Drive.
“The side streets are going to become cut-throughs because people want to get away from Monroe Drive because it’s in gridlock,” Kaften said.
Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers called and emailed Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan, whose district includes the project area, to ask about residents’ concerns but did not receive a response.
Construction is expected to continue through July 2028, a timeline that concerns some neighbors because it could overlap with the controversial Amsterdam Walk redevelopment project.
The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in about a year, with the overall project scheduled for completion by July 2028.
Read more of this story at WSBTV.com.
