Beautification Edition - 1736 Magazine, Summer 2019

BRIEFING
By DAMON CLINE
JAMES BROWN ARENA PROJECT MUST MOVE SWIFTLY
5TH STREET BRIDGE PROPOSAL: Plans are in play to convert the Fifth Street
bridge into a pedestrian- and bicycle-only pathway as part of a multimillion-dollar
Transportation Investment Act project designed to make downtown more walkable.
Here, here! Daily vehicle traffic on the worn-out 1930s-era bridge is a mere 2,400
vehicles — vehicles that can just as easily cross the larger Gordon Highway bridge just
a block away. Aside from giving walkers and bikers one of the best views of the Augusta
skyline and a safer route into North Augusta, the repurposed structure could be an
additional shot in the arm to lower Broad Street revitalization efforts.
PROLONGING THE INEVITABLE: The family of the late strip-club impresario James
“Whitey” Lester knew for years his grandfathered adult-business permits were a onetime-only
deal. Yet the heirs still tried, and failed, to petition the Augusta Commission
earlier this year to continue operating his Broad Street topless bars through an estate.
How the ploy to flout a decades-old ordinance ever made it past a commission subcommittee
is a mind-boggling travesty. If not for public outcry, the permits for downtown’s
seediest businesses could very well have been extended. Now Lester’s heirs have filed a
frivolous, last-ditch lawsuit to tie up the permits in legal red tape.
PROPOSED FILM REGULATIONS: An independent film production in Augusta during
2017 exposed an inconvenient truth: the city had no formal playbook to deal with
insurance, public safety and logistical issues. Seeking to become a bigger player in the
state’s $10 billion-a-year film industry, the city’s official film liaison, Film Augusta, set
about to change. The regulations it has proposed are far from heavy-handed; in fact,
they are modeled after policies already in place in many Georgia municipalities. The
motion-picture industry is big business; there’s no reason for the city to reinvent the
wheel every time Hollywood comes to town.
CIRCLES OF INCERTITUDE?: Traffic circles, also known as “roundabouts,” have been
used to keep traffic flowing in cities for generations. So why are so many Augusta
motorists leery of – and confused by – the concept? While most circles have been
installed in suburban areas, they are beginning to appear in urban core neighborhoods
such as Laney-Walker Bethlehem. The circles are among the most efficient means for
thwarting congestion at intersections that previously relied on four-way stops (which,
sadly, also seem to confuse many motorists). It would be a shame if a handful of vocal
critics derailed further development of roundabouts in areas where they could be
beneficial.
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