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North Buckhead Newsletter

June 2005

As reported on the front page of this newsletter,  a major transformation of Peachtree Road, coupled with the simultaneous construction of many high-rise developments, will clog North Buckhead traffic in a way few of us have seen before.  Many of our neighborhood streets will become even more attractive as cut-through alternatives to the delays and inconveniences caused by this construction.
Countering our traffic problems requires several approaches -- design, enforcement, and political  action.

• There are many  examples in Europe and North America of innovative techniques to suppress speed and cut-through based on the design of the roadway itself.  Many of these offer  advantages over traditional band-aid fixes such as speed bumps and humps.  Unfortunately they are costly to implement on existing neighborhood roads and are best achieved when constructing a new neighborhood or planned community. 
  

one that can be deployed on an existing street in our neighborhood.  Such improvements can be seen in other neighborhoods outside North Buckhead.  A suggestion from the city traffic planning organization is to start with simple medians or islands on right-of-ways that can support such an installment.  Much work is required before such improvements are implemented. 

• Of course,  another aspect of any successful traffic calming campaign is enforcement. Unless we wish to subject ourselves to an amusement park style ride every time we travel, we can't depend just on traffic calming measures.  We need some enforcement.