City of Doraville Streetscapes

Details:

Client: City of Doraville

Location: Doraville, Georgia

Status: Designed in 2013

Highlights:

  • New Peachtree Road reconfiguration design and engineer services
  • Reconfigure a five-lane vehicular-oriented road to a multi-modal pedestrian-friendly urban street

Description:

Prior to the New Peachtree Road project, the street was a five-lane vehicular thoroughfare running through downtown Doraville. Its primary function was to move vehicles as quickly as possible through the central business district with little consideration for pedestrian circulation or safety. However, the City of Doraville recognized the negative economic impacts associated with a high volume vehicular street and decided to re-purpose New Peachtree Road to support a healthy central business district.

In 2010, the City of Doraville hired TSW, a leading design and engineering firm, to develop and engineer a new vision for the street that will ultimately be constructed through the use of Livable Center Initiative (LCI) transportation funds. The new vision for the street includes a significant reduction in the number of vehicular travel lanes. The new roadway will consist of two travel lanes in each direction with a shared center turn lane, leaving approximately 25 feet of freed right-of-way.

The additional space will be occupied with a dedicated off-street bicycle path and a separate pedestrian sidewalk. Along with new signage, pavement striping, signals, and lighting, these facilities will ensure a high level of pedestrian and bicycle mobility and safety. The street’s location in relation to the City, its adjacency to the Doraville MARTA Station and its potential access to the 165-acre mixed-use urban redevelopment project planned on the former General Motors Assembly Plant, makes it extremely valuable to Doraville’s future.

In summary, prior to the New Peachtree Road project, the street was a five-lane vehicular thoroughfare running through downtown Doraville with little consideration for pedestrian circulation or safety. The City of Doraville recognized the negative economic impacts associated with a high volume vehicular street and decided to re-purpose New Peachtree Road to support a healthy central business district. In 2010, the City hired TSW to develop and engineer a new vision for the street that will ultimately be constructed through the use of LCI transportation funds. The new vision includes a significant reduction in the number of vehicular travel lanes, a dedicated off-street bicycle path, a separate pedestrian sidewalk and other infrastructure improvements to ensure a high level of pedestrian and bicycle mobility and safety.