The City of Carrollton recently installed new traffic signals at the Lovvorn and Brumbelow Road intersection near UWG. City Engineer Tommy Holland said the upgrades were needed as traffic at the intersection has spiked in recent years.
“With the new fire station being opened there and all of the students that frequent that intersection, we wanted to go ahead and make some improvements to the signals there,” said Holland. “The new lights are installed on the mast arms of the poles instead of hanging down. They are much like the ones in our downtown area.”
Holland said the City hopes to soon install the same traffic signals at the intersection of Cedar Street and Bankhead Highway in preparation for the beginning of the Bankhead Beautification Project.
The City Council approved designs for the project in the Spring and engineers are now working to on plans that could go before the Council in early 2019. Community Development Director Erica Studdard said the project will occur in phases and is aimed toward an overall beautification effort that the City hopes will rejuvenate the Bankhead Corridor.
“We’re working on the design and trying to complete that right now,” said Studdard. “Once that gets finished, then we’ll be able to take that to the Council and have them approve it, but that likely won’t happen until after the first of the year.”
The City was awarded $1.5 million in grant funding from the Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority for phase one of the project. The opening phase will include sidewalks, roadway and landscaping upgrades along Bankhead Highway from Cedar Street to Thomas Newell Way.
In September 2016, the Mayor and City Council created the Carrollton Corridor Development and Beautification Committee (CCDBC). The purpose of this committee is to create a plan to encourage and promote development and beautification of the major corridors leading into the City of Carrollton.
“We are hoping that this will help revitalize that area through tax incentives for relocating businesses,” said Studdard. “We hope to incentivize people to renovate existing properties or locate their businesses on Bankhead.”
The project also could narrow Bankhead Highway from five lanes to just three in the future.
“We will start looking at the traffic implications before we start looking at reducing the lanes, but the first phase will focus on beautification of that corridor,” said Studdard. “We’re really excited to get this underway. We’ve been working to make this happen for a while.”
