Isn't It Worth A Try?

Now that Wally Whirled has packed up his tents and left town maybe the Dunwoody PD can do what we were told they would do and actually start policing the neighborhoods. Now it may not rake in lots of money as the former Top Cop explained, but isn't it worth a try? If there were some patrolling going on then maybe we'd not have vehicles leaving the roadway with enough inertia to take the life of an innocent fire hydrant. 

This Was Done By A Honda

If we enforced our no-truck zones, which are often coincident with school zones, then we would not be finding road gators near a school entrance.

This Is A High Speed Event

This gator shouldn't be there because those trucks should be barreling down Roberts. Hard stop. Schools starts next week and no one at city hall seems to give a damn. 

Red Light Runner-At Least He Signaled

Now, lest you think this is the only traffic signal in daVille being violated, you should spend a little time at the intersection of Chamblee Dunwoody and Roberts, where it is all too common to see northbound vehicles heading onto Roberts treat a red light like a yield sign. One glance to the left and they just plow right through the light. It is worthy of note that these drivers do not seem to care about pedestrians. And don't fool yourself, this is not just happening at the near-dawn jogging hour, this happens in broad daylight. Lunch time. 

Why is this happening? Could it possibly be that since this city was founded there has been virtually no traffic code enforcement? And everyone, absolutely everyone, knows there never will be any. That's why.

Timing Is Everything

With the coronation of a new DeKalb School Superintendent, Dunwoody's Top Cop finally got his long lusted for authorization for speed enforcement cameras in school zones. To be clear, and Top Cop has been, if not for these cameras there will be no traffic enforcement in school zones. Never has been. Never will be. Actions speak louder than words.

And then the law stepped in. Or it is about to. 

It appears that Dunwoody's FOMO (on $$$) is well founded, regardless of the pre-authorization protests that it isn't about money (it is) and it is all about children's safety (it isn't). How do we know? Because these speed enforcement cameras are in operation in other jurisdictions and it is most certainly about the money. Again, actions really do speak louder than words. In these jurisdictions it has become all too clear that for-profit companies have been abusing the opportunity to fleece the flock and the flock is pissed as they feel they've only authorized real cops to do the shearing. Under the gold dome, Representatives and Senators have heard from constituents and are actually listening. They are working on HB 348 which would apply some serious limits on the financial operation of these camera systems, and HB 1126 which rolls back the 2018 law thereby prohibiting the use of these cameras. 

Has the window of opportunity closed or can Dunwoody pull off a quick money-grab? The smart money is betting on greed.

Only Happens Here

Looks like there is going to be some belly-bucking between DCSD and some cities hereabouts over traffic cameras. Some background...

Cities, including Dunwoody, have been pushing DCSD to install these traffic cameras to enforce traffic ordinances and collect revenue from issuance of tickets. As it sits right now the money collected would not necessarily go to DCSD because the law says the administrative agency will not be DCSD but the local jurisdiction. In a nutshell, Dunwoody would get revenue and would escape all costs: DCSD installs and maintains the cameras and service and DPD would not (and never have) bear the cost of traffic enforcement. Our chair force can cool their jets in those Aerons. 

DCSD will lobby for legislative changes to set this right. DCSD Board Chair sees this as win-win: DCSD will keep Dunwoody safer; and DCSD will be duly and properly compensated for doing DPD's job for them. Common sense. 

Not to Dunwoody's mayor who has reportedly been pushing hard for these cameras. The city, through one of the top bungle brothers who is directly in charge of traffic enforcement in this city, whines that they cannot come to an agreement to get DCSD to submit an application to GDOT for the cameras. Well chief, how about until they do you actually have your troops do the very job we voted this city into existence to get done: enforce the traffic laws. 

Feigning surprise that money is involved the mayor laments that if student safety is paramount these cameras would be in place. J.M.J! Maybe, just maybe, the mayor has been pushing on the wrong lever. Maybe the mayor should look inward where the mayor's responsibility lies and push hard, really hard on those levers. Maybe then the city would be informed, with empirical evidence, of the cost of actual police enforcement of these traffic safety measures and then, and only then, an informed cost/benefit evaluation could be made. This would aid any revenue sharing discussions with DCSD as the city would know exactly how much money would be saved with traffic cams over actual policing. Only that revenue in excess of the policing costs should stay with the city and the rest should go to DCSD? Why? Because this city and the mayor and the council have demonstrated time and again that safety if NOT a priority and their not ensuring safety for our school children. Frankly the city doesn't deserve a single dime of this revenue. 

If Dunwoody, if the mayor, if the council, if the city manager, if the police chief, if any of them were doing their job to protect our community this would not be an issue at all.

DIY Safety

In the run-up to the rigged referendum city advocates commissioned a favorable report from the Carl Vinson Institute touting the financial viability of the city and providing a platform for these advocates to assert that citizens would see better, more responsive services at the same or lower taxes.

What happened?

Well, taxes have ONLY increased. A ten year streak. Staff, particularly police has dramatically expanded. And yet, we find ourselves without law enforcement, particularly when it comes to traffic violations in school zones.

Some have suggested a reduction in the school zone speed limit to 15 MPH. Doesn't really pass the sniff test even if you disregard the legal side effects. The fact is we have speeders who don't respect the current limit and they're hardly going to respect a lower speed limit.

But how did we get to this point?

First, where are we? We have a bloated, top-heavy, improperly organized police department lacking in vision, direction and leadership. If you complain enough, you'll get a radar speed trailer for a week or two, a complete show of farce as if a placebo cures cancer. One thing is certain, you're not going to see any actual police work getting done. They're not coming into the community for anything beyond lip sync and donuts-with-dad PR events. In fact, they've done everything they can to shirk what a reasonable person would consider police responsibilities by foisting these responsibilities on citizen patrols who have no actual enforcement capabilities.

And let's be very clear: every speeder is in a vehicle equipped with a Speed-O-Meter and they know exactly how fast they're going. So why do they speed? A better question would be why not speed? The city has no respect for speed limits and school zones so why should anyone else?

Yet we have a bureaucratic machination called a "Crime Response Team." Apparently when you ask this ephemeral CRT about traffic enforcement the answer is "NO!" begging the question: what are citizen's options to a failed government? Is it possible for concerned parents to have a slow motion pedestrian parade thru cross walks? That might slow speeders or divert them to other routes. Suppose a few cars driving five under the limits were injected into traffic that would otherwise scream thru at ten over. Would that have a similar effect?

But really, how did we get here? It started when 19% of the registered voters came out during a holiday week to vote for this disaster. Then we have a police chief, hired in the haste of startup, who has shown more concern for polishing his brass than for safety in our community. And that is because his boss, the city manager, doesn't care about school zone speeders and he doesn't care because the mayor and council don't care either. And frankly there is no reason for them to care as they are more beholding to developers than to residents and these school zones with their speed limits impede the flow of the developers' stakeholders. These are the mistakes that got us here and are the mistakes that will keep us here.

It hurts to admit that you've been scammed; that you've been deceived; that you've been taken advantage of. But the fact is we've been had. 

Dunwoody Gets A Roundabout

A constituent in District 1 has been attempting to work with the City to address some quality of life issues directly affecting his home and family. Now this is not your ordinary whiner. That would be TOD. In fact, this bloke was one of the starry-eyed supporters of city-hood. A card carrying member of Dunwoody Yes! and Citizens for Dunwoody, participating on at least one of the pre-city-hood Task Forces. How's that for more Dunwoody than you?

A recent take-to-task issue has been the lack of enforcement of a no-truck-zone on Chamblee-Dunwoody from Roberts to Spalding. While this has been a no-truck-zone for some time, pre-dating the City, thru-trucks have sped thru unmolested as the City refused to address the situation.

Until now.

Last week the City "fixed" the problem by removing the northbound truck restrictions from that stretch of Chamblee-Dunwoody which lies entirely in the City and has imposed new, never before northbound truck restrictions on Roberts between Chamblee-Dunwoody and Spalding, which is partially in the City. This is not in the transportation plan. This was done without notice and without opportunity for public comment. This is about much more than silencing a complainer nonetheless this constituent's case is rendered moot because the offending signage has been relocated.

What Dunwoody has really done is route truck traffic in a loop. North on C-D, South on Roberts with the loop closed at the north via Spalding. And this is just the first, baby step. The full plan calls for conversion of these sections of Roberts and Chamblee-Dunwoody to one-way for all traffic creating a huge roundabout as shown in this map.

Inconvenience to residents is mitigated by the two cut-throughs (shown in red) with the Dunwoody Knoll route improved by the removal of the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. The right of way reclaimed will be re-purposed to protected bike lanes similar to those cropping up across the nation.

Note that only cyclists will enjoy bi-directional connectivity once the planned changes are completed. While there has been some discussion around sidewalk widening and other improvements that part of the plan has not been finalized as Staff remains unconvinced there is sufficient pedestrian traffic.

A Christmas Wish

Speeding is a problem throughout Dunwoody and one of the worst routes is North Peachtree threading thru quiet but hilly residential areas and sporting a 25 MPH speed limit along a majority of the route. It should come as no surprise that a significant number of cut thru drivers (and some locals) exceed the limit by more than 10 MPH. Officials seem to love absolutes but 10 MPH over in a residential 25 MPH zone is significantly worse than 10 over on 45 MPH Ashford Dunwoody.

Don't expect enforcement to play a role in addressing this problem. Not only is DPD primarily Perimeter Mall Cops and unless or until someone's children lose playing North Peachtree Frogger we'll not see any enforcement. Even if we do it will be short lived serving primarily as a DPD PR stunt. This is despite a ballooning budget that not only outpaces inflation but even the rates of increase of college educations.

But we have a chance to make lemonade and quite a bit of it as we have two lemons. Whilst the DPD is standing Perimeter Defense we've been assaulted by Torpy's Spandex Army. These folks have waged a campaign with the kind of disregard for others and religious fervor one associates with ISIL and until recently have met with token opposition at best though Buckhead recently dispelled their invincibility. And Dunwoody is blessed with many riders who, as Torpy has observed, intend to self-enforce their rights to the road forcing auto traffic to queue up and slow to the pedaller's speed. No matter how slow that might be.

And there is our solution. While it is conceivable that some fit Lance-a-lots might top 25 on some downhill stretches for the most part hitting 25 will be uncommon. Combine this with the militantly arrogant, almost gleeful, rolling traffic obstruction and we have our solution to drivers speeding in the area.

The City need only make one change to score a win-win-win.

We need to change our paving plan to incorporate bicycle riders and not just bicycle lanes which to date have been totally unrelated. We need to ink an IGA between the City of Dunwoody and the fascist Bicycle State in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs (BSDSS) that requires consistent routing and properly timed bike-ride/traffic-calming crits before we pave or even stripe-out another foot of bicycle lane.

When this operational plan is in place we'll see slower traffic in a residential area, undisturbed Police operations and the BSDSS will get to exercise their legs and their rights in a worthy cause.

Are We Getting Smarter?

Are we getting smarter or did we import it? Doesn't really matter does it?

One of the things Dunwoody did shortly after gathering up some tax money was to buy a bunch of solar powered radar speed signs. As we've pointed out at least some of these are located in a suboptimal location partly because solar panels don't work so well in the shade. Other observations include the City's steadfast refusal to locate these inside a school zone allowing the City to be rather dismissive when the public asks about speeding in these zones. They honestly cannot answer because they've refused to look.

That may be changing. At least out by the Linear Park.

Southbound CD currently has a sign situated on a shady turn pointed at traffic speeding from Spalding towards lovely downtown Dunwoody. It is north of the cross walk practice dummy and barely in sight of any indication there is a school zone in the offing.

The new location is just south of the "School Zone Ahead" sign. And in the sun.

When fleeing daVille, the current sign is at the uphill section of the Fairfield Oaks which had been hacked up by the City in an effort to grab a few rays.

The new location is actually inside the school zone just past the hilltop and yes, in the sun.

To what do we owe this Sudden Onset Sanity? Some say it was just a matter of time. Perhaps if you mean by "matter of time" you are referring to the amount of time needed to upgrade our City Manager and Assistant City Manager but that sure was a long time coming.

Thank goodness it is here. Now maybe we'll see a trend of Good Things done the Smart Way. Dare we hope for download page on the City website where we can download data from these radar signs?

Another One Down

It isn't like this is IN a school zone, it's conveniently just outside the school zone and this isn't the favourite stomping grounds of anyone on council. So...

Ooh, let's go
Steve walks warily down the street
With the brim pulled way down low
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet
Machine guns ready to go

Are you ready, hey, are you ready for this
Are you hangin' on the edge of your seat
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat - yeah

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust, eh
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

How do you think I'm going to get along
Without you when you're gone
You took me for everything that I had
And kicked me out on my own

Are you happy ? Are you satisfied ?
How long can you stand the heat
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat
Look out

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust, eh
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

Hey
Oh take it
Bites the dust - bite the dust hey
Hey
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust, ow
Another one bites the dust, hey hey
Another one bites the dust, heeey
Ooh show down

There are plenty of ways that you can hurt a man
And bring him to the ground
You can beat him
You can cheat him
You can treat him bad and leave him
When he's down, yeah
But I'm ready, yes I'm ready for you
I'm standing on my own two feet
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
Repeating to the sound of the beat
Oh yeah

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust, yeah
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
Shoot out
Hey, alright

Tale Of Two Cities

This begins with two similar events, traffic accidents involving school children, the first over three years ago and the second, more recent, little over a week ago. Both have resulted in public outcry and a call for action.

The first accident resulted in an a serious injury and what has apparently been viewed at City Hall as a never ending chorus of whining and requests for increased traffic enforcement and other safety measures. To the City's credit they would respond with a patrol, the mobile speed trailer with associated sanitized eighty-fifth percentile reports and installed a now dead and buried middle-of-the-road crosswalk sign. To the resident's point these patrols have become little more than feeble placations and the obvious conclusion of a destroyed crosswalk sign seems to have escaped our Public Safety team at City Hall. The residents being persistent have even reached out to a Councilman to come to the scene and witness first hand the hazardous conditions that persist to this day. This request was denied.

Little over a week ago all this changed. This same Councilman's son was involved in a similar accident, saved from potentially mortal injury by the quick thinking and deliberate action of a crosswalk guard. And let's be very clear on one point: at any time since the creation of this city were one to stack rank our elected officials based on any objective criteria this Councilman's name would appear at the top. Not near the top. At the top. This Councilman has now put the full force of his office and credibility in the community behind addressing the traffic safety issues and the hazardous conditions that prevail throughout our community. Not just his neighborhood but citywide.

This Tale of Two Cities is not so much about the contrasts of two traffic accidents or to disparage the fact that the City may now finally do the right thing and do it well or to in any way discourage them from that course of action.

What these events speak to is a widening rift between the elite class in Dunwoody and the plebeians they rule.

Were a parent or concerned citizen to approach Council to speak up about the first accident and what to do about it, they would be limited to three minutes of Council's precious time whilst a Councilman endures no such restriction on his freedom to speak. When a tragedy befalls a mere citizen the City has a muted reaction, but not so when it touches one of their own. It is this separate, this unequal reaction to and treatment of people and events that has created a class separation so distinct and so wide as to be missing only a proclamation from the Mayor of "Let Them Eat Cake".

This was evidenced in the recent council meeting when the Councilman recounted his son's accident and made recommendations for Citywide action. He was interrupted, rudely and inappropriately by what could easily be dismissed as a heckler. Though the behaviour was inexcusable it is explicable. There is an undercurrent of anger born of disenfranchisement not seen since citizen anger directed towards DeKalb was leveraged to form this City. There were or should have been adults in the room and this "heckler" should have been asked to leave. Instead there was a literal call to arms, a demand from the Chair that this person be removed by the police implicitly by force if necessary. This does little to show respect to citizens, any and all citizens, by this City.

It is imperative that we understand these events have revealed two separate problems. We have traffic safety issues in Dunwoody and while we can lament that it took a near tragedy affecting an elected official for this to get the attention it has long deserved we should not sacrifice the good that may come because this also exposes a growing chasm between our City and those they are to serve.

Urgent Care Needed

Really?

Now that all the TSPLOST whining has degenerated into whimpering it seems reasonable to ask a simple question:

What made this a crisis?

Anyone who's lived in the metro region for more than five years knows a few things. Traffic here is pretty bad. You're one wreck away from an extra hour tacked on to a thirty minute commute. Most folks "ain't from around here" and where they're from they send their worst first. MARTA sucks. Always has, always will. Local politicians are as corrupt as they come and are second only to their greedy business cronies. Hartsfield[1] serves as proof that power corrupts and that with adequate cashflow even corruption can appear to work. Sometimes.

What we don't know is how a chronic condition, one we had learned to live with, one that had gone into a very limited remission suddenly became critical. Why 2012? Why not 2006, ten years after the Olympics when the shine had gone all patina? Why not Y2K? If you believe the loudmouth who was pumping the TSPLOST nothing has been done on GA400 and I-285 since 1972, so why not the mid-eighties?

The answer is simple and unsurprising. The Feds are cutting back on the money they will dole out to Atlanta to prop up the Georgia DOT and other local interests. And we've become addicted to Fed Funding. Intentionally. And it's not like we have used these funds wisely. We've sqandered it to keep gasoline taxes artificially low, avoid applying impact fees to address the costs associated with development and hand out tax abatements like candy. That kind of hedonistic, drug addled thinking has put us in such a precarious position that the tiniest reduction in Fed Funds pushes us from chronic but manageable to critical, near death.




[1] @TOD we've not tacked on the "Jackson" as we're not sure whether that is about Jesse, Maynard, or Michael.

Set My MARTA Free!

Here is a radical idea that has been floating around section 8 housing for a quite a few years now:

make MARTA train and bus services totally free to anyone. 

Turns out the idea has some merit if tackled properly.

Given we're about to engage in a TSPLOST Train Wreck that primarily serves a few already rich developers perhaps establishing a comprehensive region wide "No Fare" public transportation system may not be so silly after all. Is it really any sillier than the "Train to Lovejoy", a revival of the archaic concept of streetcars or the Atlanta beltline project?

This warrants some serious consideration.

Suppose travelers to Atlanta could get off a plane, pick up their bags and hop right on the train without buying a breeze card, without the "how do you swipe this card" delay, and without negotiating baggage through those goofy swinging gates. That would set Atlanta ahead and above all major passenger hubs in the world in both convenience and service.

To make this work several important things must happen.

The State must step up to the plate with a funding mechanism that leverages regional assets to build out a world class system. After all, this is the same region that is being lobbied to mindlessly vote for the TSPLOST for a patchwork of studies that will lead nowhere but to more taxes. Grow up--get real. It's time for the legislature to put some "big boy" pants on and state for the record that Atlanta regional transportation is important to the entire state. Just like the port at Savannah or an auto plant in west Georgia.

MARTA must go away. And GRTA. And the Cobb and the Gwinnett and the Clayton bus systems.

Expanding MARTA's role will not work as MARTA suffers from a well-deserved, region-wide negative brand image. When authorizing MARTA, the state wisely restricted the budget to a fifty-fifty split between operations and capital expenditures, suspecting that MARTA would become pretty much what it is today. Since then MARTA has played fast and loose with the rules (e.g., selling capital equipment and leasing it back) to divert funds to operations justifying the original wariness of the State.

It is also viewed, again with reasonable justification, as a jobs program for a particular demographic and we are not likely to see a top MARTA official that does not meet that profile.

This has had an expected and very tangible impact on service. While MARTA may attract the best available from an artificially small selection, they do not seek the best overall talent. This has created a sense of entitlement amongst the employees who, knowing they will not be fired, see no reason to make on-time service Job One. Or Job NONE for that matter. It has become so bad that it is no longer unusual for the first train leaving the North Springs station to leave late! And MARTA is not alone--over the years we have witnessed the (mis)management of the Atlanta Airport which operates under the same model. We won't even start with the school systems.

We must have a single, region wide agency responsible for all transportation in the area. There must be a single throat to choke, a single agency to manage, a single agency to be held accountable. And "all transportation"  includes the 800 lb gorilla, the Atlanta Airport, as well as other, often overlooked airports like PDK (which is the second busiest in the state). This agency must also be responsible for all surface transportation in the region. If there are to be tolls, if the existing tolls are to continue, it would be the responsibility of this agency to establish and maintain these systems. If "the gulch" is to ever be used as a multi-modal transportation hub, this agency will make it happen. If "Rubber Rail" with dedicated lanes comes to the area, it will be directly because of the efforts of this agency. 

Finally, this agency must represent and respect the needs of the entire region, not just one area and not just a select few. The balkanization that characterizes and paralyzes the Atlanta metro area must be torn down. Transparency and fiduciary responsibility must be foundational. Service must be paramount. There is no reason to believe that our transportation systems cannot be run as efficiently as those in Japan or Europe. There is no reason to accept less.

Double Crossed

...or why diverging diamonds won't work.

If you look closely at the diverging diamond fairy tale animations you will notice that one key ingredient of Atlanta traffic is missing. Assholes. Specifically the asshole that is three lanes to the left on southbound Ashford Dunwoody when she knows damn well she intends to get onto 285 westbound. And she expects at least two lanes of traffic to come to a complete halt so she can get over. At the last minute.

And she's not alone. That intersection is an asshole magnet, attracting some of the biggest and most obnoxious this region has to offer.  If Dunwoody is number one in anything it is asshole drivers. Any day. Any time. Damn near anywhere, but especially there.

Why do these assholes do this? Because if they queued up in the correct lane whilst just north of Hammond, they might have to sit their self-righteous asses in a bit more traffic, that's why. Much better to zoom on down in what is clear to everyone is the wrong lane and push in just before the entrance ramp light. So they're not only assholes, they're arrogant assholes.

And arrogant assholes will deep six the best laid plans of our traffic engineers. You know, the same geniuses that brought the disaster known as the Lexus Lanes. Probably related to those that think that extending Peachford is something other than a road to nowhere. Unlike those two the diverging diamond looks like it should work. Problem is none of the traffic engineering accounts for assholes, and with the diverging diamond we can expect the current  crop of last minute "left to right" assholes to be joined by a similar set of "right to left" assholes. While the diamond may diverge, what happens when the lefties and righties converge? You know they will.

Our only hope is that the scheme will be so confusing it scares folks away from the entire perimeter area.