ATLANTA — One of the main roads running through Atlanta is about to undergo a major makeover.
Transportation officials plan to add a two-way left turn lane on Peachtree Road between the Buford Spring Connector and Pharr Road in Buckhead.
Peachtree Road is known for traffic tie-ups and accidents.
“Maybe, like, four months ago, I saw an older lady get hit here by a driver, just kinda not looking at the time. She walked out, pulled out and hit the older lady,” said Jae Gresham.
She works at the Starbucks on Peachtree Road and Peachtree Battle Avenue and says she sees crashes all the time.
“Very frequently, coming and going in different directions,” said Gresham.
The Georgia Department of Transportation says its numbers back up what she sees.
“Over the last five years, (Peachtree Road) has experienced over 800 crashes within the limits of the project alone,” said Georgia Department of Transportation’s state traffic engineer, Andrew Heath.
The other big problem slowing down traffic on Peachtree Road is drivers turning left.
“I’ve been in the left lane stuck behind somebody turning left to, like, Chick-fil-A or somewhere, and you’re just stuck. You can’t move,” said Taryn Kirbo, who lives near Peachtree Road.
“People are afraid to use the innermost lanes on Peachtree because they’re afraid they’ll get stuck behind somebody who’s turning,” said Buckhead Community Improvement District executive director, Jim Durrett.
The Georgia Department of Transportation’s solution is to restripe the lanes on Peachtree Road between the Buford Spring Connector and Pharr Road to add a continuous left turn lane. Traffic heading in both directions can use the left turn lane.
But that will take away one northbound lane, so Peachtree Road will have two northbound and three southbound lanes.
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The Georgia Department of Transportation says its research shows the new left turn lane will reduce the number of crashes. “A two-way left turn lane has been shown to reduce those type of crashes by almost 20 to 25 percent,” said Heath.
But drivers aren’t so sure about the plan. “To make a dedicated turn lane seems risky,” said Kirbo.
We saw a construction project at the intersection of Peachtree and Pharr roads that provides a perfect example of what could happen. One lane is shut down for construction. Another lane would become a dedicated left turn lane so suddenly Peachtree Road would only have one lane.
We asked the Georgia Department of Transportation what they have planned to avoid this type of problem.
“We gotta be ongoing coordination with our enforcement agencies, city of Atlanta Police, those type agencies. We don’t want delivery trucks stopping in an active through travel lane,” said Heath.
We asked the Atlanta Police Department if it plans to ticket delivery truck drivers blocking lanes.
A spokesperson sent us a statement saying, “Zone 2 Units along with our various discretionary units assigned to traffic enforcement will continue to monitor traffic along Peachtree Road. As traffic violations are committed drivers will be cited accordingly.”
Drivers say they hope the plan works but are skeptical.
“Atlanta traffic is just bad all around the board so I don’t know, like, I don’t know. It will take more than a lane to try to fix that problem, I think,” said Gresham.
The Georgia Department of Transportation is working with the contractor to set the schedule. The project is expected to take 12 months. Crews will try to reduce the impact on drivers by doing some work in the overnight hours and on weekends.