Athens, Georgia: Where Broad Street Is Too Broad

Residents of Athens' West Broad neighborhood are ready to see some sort of transformation; however, what that transformation is is unclear as work begins on a new master plan for the area. Blake Aued of Flagpole reports that citizens have come to the conclusion that Broad Street, which divides the area, needs some pedestrian friendly upgrades, including more crosswalks.

...the state Department of Transportation widened Broad Street to accommodate the rise of the automobile and the strip-mall development lining the corridor, and crossing it became more difficult. There are no crosswalks except at traffic lights, which are few and far between from a pedestrian’s point of view, and no refuge for people once they get in the road. The Hancock-Broad intersection has no crosswalk at all. This divided the neighborhood.

“I’d jump up and down if someone would put a median on Broad Street and put some trees on it and make it look like people live on either side, and it’s not just this big commercial corridor,” said school board member Linda Davis, who also grew up in the area. “Making it walkable would be amazing.

In addition to the Broad Street issue, residents are also concerned about gentrification and displacement of existing residents, noting that any improvements shouldn't just be targeted to the new people moving into the community.