Peachtree Corners to build a big beautiful bridge and more

This is just one design proposed for a new bridge in the city of Peachtree Corners. Georgia

I confess that I’m a bit jarred by one of the proposals for a pedestrian bridge in Peachtree Corners. For those who are not “in the know,” this young city is proposing to connect The Forum shopping center to a new Town Center development on Peachtree Parkway with a bridge. One of the proposals is for an “iconic” futuristic-looking bridge. From one of the images provided by the city, the actual bridge and attached walkways and stairs look great. I’m just a bit put off by the overhead massive cables. I’m trying to picture the entire thing and to me, it just pops out of nowhere. It’s too much. Perhaps I’m a “romantic” when it comes to community and city development, but I would not mind seeing something quaint with arches and cobblestones. Who knows, maybe I’m way off base here and that design will be the best one, but to me, that pedestrian bridge doesn’t seem to fit in that area. Also if the city goes with the 'cabling proposal,; here’s hoping it’s grounded – the whole thing looks like it would be a nice lightning rod. Do not let that one rendering fool you. There are several other options out there. The city is holding a community meeting at City Hall on Thursday, March 31 from 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. to show a number of design options for citizens to review and provide their feedback.

Do not get me wrong, Peachtree Corners could use a bridge in that area. I understand why a tunnel would not work with flooding potential. Now this is getting even more local, but I’m hoping for a path or standard sidewalk from the corner of Peachtree Corners Circle and Peachtree Parkway in front of the Chase bank to near that bridge. Either a path or sidewalk, or install a protected crosswalk from that part of the intersection, which currently does not have any type of crosswalk.

Since I’m staying local here, the city of Peachtree Corners has proposed a noise ordinance amendment. According to the report, in that proposal, the city will limit the hours of lawn maintenance equipment, trash hauling vehicles and construction operations. The hours for the trash trucks would be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekends. The lawn equipment’s hours would be 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekends. The construction personnel hours could change on Saturdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. I’m not sure if the noise ordinance proposal has much teeth, but again, I could be wrong. With trash trucks, I’ve never seen or heard them operate before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m. and I’ve been in these neck of the woods for years, well before the then-unincorporated area had about a dozen trash haulers. Those hours are not much of a change.

Certainly the mowers and leaf blowers are a nuisance in the 7 a.m. or 10 p.m. hours, but that is rare. There are rogue neighbors everywhere who perform those tasks at odd hours, but again, that doesn’t happen much. What happens more are independent fireworks operators -- also known as neighbors -- blow off fireworks into the wee hours typically days before and after New Year’s and the Fourth of July, in addition to the actual holidays. It would be nice to somehow curtail that activity, but that takes time and money to enforce, but then again, that’s what it will take to enforce the current noise ordinance proposal.

Now, back to something a bit more ‘universal.’ Atlanta traffic awful. Oh, did you already know that. I’m not sure what it is, but I’m baffled as to why it’s been even heavier lately. I know another ranking came out saying that we are not all that bad like Los Angeles, but hey, they have nice winters and the beach. Still, I can do without the tremors, droughts and mudslides. It sounds awful, but obviously zillions flock to live there and love it, but I’d rather not enter that rat-race. This isn’t to say that the Atlanta metro is not a rat-race, but it’s less intense than other cities.

So, is it good for cities to tackle these quality of life issues like building bridges, implementing noise ordinances or should they be more passive?