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City to begin planning for intersection rebuild

Next month Decatur begins the process of creating a master plan and design for reconfiguring the Atlanta Avenue intersection at College Avenue and Howard Avenue.

Currently the intersection is actually two intersections or a Y shape. Atlanta crosses College and then crosses railroad tracks, with one spur veering right or east on Howard and another veering left or west on Howard. This area also includes a complicated system of three sets of lights.

Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon anticipates at least one year to complete the master plan/ design. The master-planning segment, roughly four to six months, includes a series of community input meetings. After that, consultant Landis Evans & Partners of Chamblee will complete a detailed design with construction documents.

“The fix could be as simple as rebuilding what’s there, or moving the [railroad] crossing,” Saxon said. “It could be as simple as lining up the intersection, like you see at McDonough [St. and College] and Candler [Roadand College]. It could be a variety of things, but most important we want to make it simpler for pedestrians and bicycles.”

Saxon added that he hopes construction can start sometime in the next two years.

Total cost for master planning and design is $360,000, funding provided by the special purpose local option sales tax approved by voters in 2017.