Avondale Estates’ long quest to create the feel and functionality of a European city next to its recognizable downtown has taken another significant step forward. 

City officials announced this week the Georgia Department of Transportation has awarded a $3.37-million grant to launch the DeKalb County city’s first shared streets project.

The GDOT contribution will cover most costs for the program, which city officials are calling “a big boost to downtown walkability.” It will reshape sections of the Washington, Franklin, and Oak streets corridors—covering the heart of Avondale Estates’ celebrated brewery and retail district—in a way that accommodates multiple modes of transportation, including biking and walking.  

Seven downtown blocks will be converted to shared streets overall, with a goal of: linking downtown attractions and local businesses together; connecting to regional bike facilities, including a popular nearby PATH Trail; and supporting “the city’s ongoing efforts to promote sustainable transportation options,” according to a project announcement. 

Included in the shared streets designs will be new lighting, green and stormwater infrastructure, and new landscaping. 

Shared streets concepts (top) and the scope of planned work around Avondale Estates' celebrated brewery district. City of Avondale Estates

The project follows several transformative public and private initiatives that have delivered near Avondale Estates’ Tudor village district in recent years or are in the pipeline now. 

Those include the city’s award-winning Town Green, the new Dale commercial section next to that, a Complete Streets overhaul of the city’s main traffic corridor (set to open in January), and a recently announced, nearly 800-home development now set to remake multiple downtown blocks.  

GDOT’s funding will be sourced from the agency’s Transportation Alternatives program, a federally funded push to create safer corridors for non-drivers around Georgia.  

Closer look at shared streets plans and connectivity to the PATH Trail just to the north linking downtown Atlanta to Stone Mountain. City of Avondale Estates

The GDOT grant will help Avondale Estates “provide multi-modal transportation through the downtown corridors in a beautiful and functional way,” Lori Leland, the city’s planning and development director, said in the shared streets announcement. 

“Due to the constrained nature of the right-of-way in these corridors," Leland continued, "expanding the width of the streets wasn’t a feasible option. But the shared streets concept and GDOT have given us an excellent alternative.”

The city is required to bring matching funds of 20 percent of the project—or $673,900—to the table. Plans call for sourcing that from SPLOST, awards from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank, and a Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant, along with local funds, per city officials. 

Overview of Phase 1 plans for a remake of multiple downtown Avondale Estates blocks, with today's Town Green depicted at bottom. Avila/Hedgewood; designs, TSW/Brock Hudgins Architects; courtesy of Avondale Estates

Avondale Estates' new Town Green debuted in summer 2022.

City officials pointed to successful shared streets programs in European cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin, and Paris that illustrate how motorists (and parking spaces), pedestrians, and cyclists can coexist in constrained, urban places. “This is the right solution for Avondale Estates, with a nod to our historic connection to the European village concept,” added Mayor Jonathan Elmore. 

A preliminary engineering phase for the shared streets project is set to begin next year. Construction is scheduled to kick off in 2027. 

...

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Avondale Estates news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)