By Michael Prochaska
Staff Writer
 
Following an investigation into the death of a pedestrian at the intersection of South Main and Burnett streets earlier this year, the City of Madison has continued to voice concerns to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) on potential upgrades to downtown crosswalks and roadwork, said City Manager David Nunn.
In June, the city’s engineering group, Jacob’s Engineering, conducted a “cursory review of the traffic, roadway and pedestrian conditions” in an effort to determine possible improvements needed to “reduce vehicle speed and improve pedestrian safety.”
“Like many areas similar to Madison, pedestrian safety is a great concern to the community,” the report stated. “The challenge, from a traffic engineering perspective, is to transition drivers from the higher speed arterial roadways to the low speed downtown area.”
Nunn said he has since forwarded the memorandum containing potential road improvements to GDOT, and that the State of Georgia will ultimately decide what projects are feasible under its current budget.
The following improvements are taken from the memo, which was given to the Morgan County Citizen by the city’s manager’s office. The list published is not an exhaustive list of what was reported in the memo, but contains major projects outlined. The projected price of items costing $1,000 or more are listed in parenthesis.
Main Street at Burnett Street
•  Trim vegetation in front of existing pedestrian warning sign
• Install northbound Main Street advanced pedestrian warning sign
• Install back-to-back pedestrian warning with push buttons and flash beacons (estimated cost $10,000 - $15,000)
·      Install in-street pedestrian crossing sign
·      Install Do not Block intersection sign
Northbound traffic on US 441/South Main Street
·      Install radar speed limit sign south of Johnson Street near existing pedestrian warning sign (Estimated cost $4,000 - $5,000)
·      Install advanced pedestrian warning sign with “AHEAD” approximately 100-feet prior to Central Avenue at existing pedestrian warning sign location.
·      Install back-to-back warning with arrow at Central Avenue Crossing (Estimated cost $1,000)
·      Install in-street pedestrian crossing sign at Central Avenue crossing
·      Install reduce speed limit ahead sign, i.e. “25 mph” approximately 250-feet south of Burnett Street
Southbound Traffic on North US 441/Main Street
·      Install radar speed limit sign south of Burney Street (Estimated cost $4,000 to $5,000)
·      Install reduce speed limit ahead sign, i.e. “25 mph” north of Thomason Street
Westbound East Washington Street
·      Install radar speed limit sign west of Poplar Street (Estimated cost $4,000)
·      Install stop ahead in the proximity of Pine Street
Eastbound traffic on West Washington Street/SR83
·      Install radar speed limit sign east of West Jefferson Street (Estimated cost $4,000 to $5,000)
·      Install reduce speed limit ahead sign, i.e. “30 mph” north of West Jefferson Street
Main Street at High Street
·      Trim vegetation in front of existing northbound Main Street advanced pedestrian warning sign north of Thomason Street
·      Instead “AHEAD” on existing northbound Main Street advanced warning sign post
·      Install back-to-back pedestrian warning with push buttons and rapid flash beacons at High Street crosswalk (Estimated cost $10,000 to $15,000)
Other projects outlined in the memo include improving the intersections of Hancock Street at Washington Street, Hancock Street at Jefferson Street, Jefferson Street at North 1st Street, Jefferson Street at North 2nd Street, Jefferson Street at Thomason Road, Washington Street at Thomason Road, Washington Street at North 2nd Street and Jefferson Street at North 1st Street. Nunn said he will continue to give updates during his manager’s report at future city council meetings.

Printed in the August 23, 2012 edition