City begins planning for redesign of U.S. 278

Avondale Estates has hired a consultant to plan the redesign of U.S. 278 through downtown, a three-quarter mile stretch from Ashton Place to Sams Crossing. The planning process, including four community input sessions, begins in January and will likely last through most of next year according to City Planner Keri Stevens.

The city’s hope is to narrow the corridor from five (and in places four) lanes to three, along with wider sidewalks, bike lanes, safer crossings and green infrastructure to filter stormwater. The design will likely be similar to the half-mile of Decatur’s North McDonough Road from Trinity Place to Howard Avenue.

For Avondale the long-range goal is to make the downtown business district far more accessible.

The idea for a lane reduction dates to the city’s 2013 walkability study. Initially the Georgia Department of Transportation wouldn’t approve a road diet, saying it would slow traffic significantly along 278, a state road. But last year GDOT reversed itself, giving Avondale the go-ahead to at least explore the possibilities of three lanes.

Any plan the city produces, Stevens said, needs final approval from GDOT.

Stevens said the city anticipates the planning phase could cost $500,000 with the hope 80 percent of that will get paid by an Atlanta Regional Commission grant.

A very tentative start date for construction is Feb. 2021.