Posted on behalf of Master Plan Coordinating Committee
Mayor Kasim Reed has announced plans for a $250 million infrastructure bond referendum, likely to be held in March. The timing is good for CP residents because the Master Plan we completed last fall includes ideas to improve our infrastructure, and because last month the neighborhood identified 28 Master Plan recommendations as priorities.
After discussing our ideas with city officials and scrutinizing the criteria for projects to be funded by the bonds, we’d like to enlist your help in communicating nine neighborhood priorities to key city officials. Seven of the items are internal to Candler Park:
- Sidewalks, repaired and/or installed, along Oakdale Road from the MARTA Station to North Avenue.
- Sidewalks, repaired and/or installed, along McLendon Ave. from L5P to the Clifton Road.
- Sidewalks, repaired and/or installed along Candler Park Drive from Iverson Street to North Avenue.
- Sidewalks, repaired and/or installed along Euclid Avenue from L5P to North Avenue.
- Curb cuts and a crosswalk across Candler Park Drive at the point which the park trail intersects Candler Park Drive (between the soccer field and the golf course).
- Sidewalk improvements should include crosswalks at intersections, where appropriate.
- Sidewalk improvements should include ADA compliant curb cuts where appropriate. This includes two ramps at Candler Park Drive and Miller Ave., two ramps at Oakdale Road and Miller Ave., one ramp at the corner of Candler Park Drive and Benning Place, one ramp at the corner of Oakdale Road and McLendon Ave., three ramps at Euclid Ave. and Euclid Terrace, and three ramps at the corner of Euclid Ave. and Benning Place.
Two projects are of interest to multiple neighborhoods, including Candler Park:
- DeKalb-Moreland Intersection: Connectivity of pedestrian and bicycle traffic consistent with what the DOT is planning. Bike lanes along the jug handles and improved sidewalks with landscape buffer from street.
- A new multi-use trail along DeKalb Avenue from the trail at Rocky Ford to Downtown Hill Street, assuming that the reversible lanes are removed during prior work along the corridor.
We believe that the more letters of support that are submitted the greater our chance of being heard. So we hope you’ll send letters or emails to at least some of the following officials (with a particular emphasis on individual notes if you know the person):
- City Council President, Caesar Mitchell, ccmitchell@atlantaga.gov
- City Councilperson, District 2, Kwanza Hall, khall@atlantaga.gov
- City Councilperson, District 5, Natalyn Archibong, narchibong@atlantaga.gov
- City Councilperson, At-Large Mary Norwood, mnorwood@atlantaga.gov
- City Councilperson, At-Large, Michael Julian Bond, mbond@atlantaga.gov
- City Councilperson, At-Large, Andre Dickens, adickens@atlantaga.gov
Postal addresses for all City Council members are: City Councilperson XXXX, City of Atlanta, 55 Trinity Avenue, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
- Richard Mendoza, Commissioner Public Works, Department of Public Works, rmendoza@atlantaga.gov
- Rodney Givens, Program Management Officer, Capital Projects, Department of Public Works, rcgivens@atlantaga.gov
- Gregory Holder, Public Works Manager, Department of Public Works, ghholder@atlantaga.gov
Postal Addresses for Public Works employees are: name, title, Department of Public Works, City of Atlanta, 55 Trinity Avenue, SW, Suite 4500, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
It would be helpful for you to emphasize some of the relevant reasons for these projects to be funded by the bond issue (download a sample letter here). Among those reasons:
- All the improvements are within the recently approved Candler Park Master Plan.
- All provide connectivity to MARTA and/or schools.
- The DeKalb Avenue multi-use trail will serve as an extension of the Beltline, and also will connect the Beltline to the M.L. King, Inman Park and Candler Park/Edgewood MARTA stations.
- The DeKalb-Moreland intersection improvements will connect the Little Five Points business district with MARTA and will dovetail with improvements the Georgia Department of Transportation is making to Moreland.
- Sidewalk improvements will allow for connectivity to existing retail opportunities, proposed developments along three major axis of the neighborhood, mass transit and public schools.
Please feel free to share this post and the sample letter with neighbors who might support the effort and related initiatives. If you do send letters or emails, also feel free to copy Randy Pimsler at masterplan@candlerpark.org, which will help Randy get an idea of our communication with officials (but don’t by any means feel obligated if you’d rather keep it private!). And if you have questions, comments or concerns, let Randy know so we can follow up quickly.
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