Changes Coming to Five Points Intersection But Not a Traffic Signal

There won’t be a left-turn signal in the Five Points intersection, but other changes are coming to the busy section of road. The Commission approved improvements as part of the Safe Routes to Schools, ones that will affect pedestrians bound for Barrow Elementary. 

According to District 4 Commissioner Allison Wright, these include:

At the Five Points intersection

1.  Install a countdown pedestrian timer
2.  Install a stamped crosswalk (flush with the pavement)
3.  Install improved signage for pedestrians

Along Pinecrest Avenue
1.  Install a stamped crosswalk (flush with the pavement) in front of the school
2.  Install combination school zone beacons with radar speed signs that display the vehicle's actual traveling speed

Along Lumpkin Street
1.  Install combination school zone beacons with radar speed signs that display the vehicle's actual traveling speed

These changes are expected to be finished by 2014.

At a recent Commission meeting, some UGA students made a case for installing a left-hand turn signal for motorists turning north on Milledge from Lumpkin. David Clark, head of the ACC Transportation and Public Works department, said:

The intersection of Milledge Avenue/Lumpkin Street/Milledge Circle is a part of the state highway system and GDOT has jurisdiction over the operation of the traffic signal. In order to maximize the throughput of vehicles along Milledge Avenue (a state highway), GDOT has established specific criteria to warrant a request for a left arrow on the non-state highway side streets based on the traffic volume of left-turning vehicles multiplied by the opposing through traffic.  This number must equal 50,000 for a left-turn arrow by warranted by GDOT.

The number of vehicles turning left doesn't meet the GDOT threshold, and the crash data don't make safety an issue, so the local transportation department can't request a left turn signal, Clark said.

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