Avondale Estates’ charming Tudor-village downtown has long been the beating heart of this vibrant DeKalb County community. But city leaders felt the area had even greater untapped potential.

In 2014, Avondale Estates received a Livable Centers Initiative grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission to transform the North Avondale Road – East College (U.S. 278) corridor into a “complete street” – one that’s safer, more walkable and bike-friendly, and better connected to spark economic development.

Fast-forward 12 years and this vision has become a reality.

The area is buzzing with newfound energy and vitality. People flock to downtown shops and restaurants, gather in the new Town Green, and grab a bite or brew in the flourishing warehouse district. (See photo gallery below)

A New ‘Main Street’

The central idea was to overhaul a 1-mile, five-lane section of the corridor that served as a mini-highway and a dangerous barrier between the commercial district and adjacent neighborhoods.

The goal, city officials said, was to change the corridor from a place that people “drive through” to one that they “drive to” by replacing vehicle travel lanes with more options to walk, bike, or take transit.

The project formally wrapped up this Spring. Here’s what’s new:

• The road’s five lanes have been reduced to three – one in each direction plus turn lanes, with a landscaped median
• New ADA accessible bike-ped crossings have been installed
• A wide 10-foot path runs on the north side of the road, while the south side boasts 5-foot sidewalks.
• Street trees and decorative lighting

“This corridor has become a ‘third space’ that links our community together — people walking to the farmers market, stopping for a pastry, families out riding bikes. It’s truly transformative for our city,” said Assistant City Manager Shannon Powell.

Safety a Driving Goal

The project was carefully designed to boost safety while maintaining efficiency. Traffic signal syncing, limited curb cuts, and strategically placed left-hand turn lanes help traffic flow even at slower speeds.

According to the city, traffic models show that the new street design will result in only an additional 18 seconds of travel time from one end of the project to the other.

Between 2013 and 2019, the area experienced 150 crashes, and vehicles often travel 10 mph or more over the speed limit.

Powell said before the project, traffic moved at high speeds, and sidewalks stopped and started seemingly at random. “You only really walked or biked on this corridor because you had to. It was really frightening.”

LCI as Catalyst

ARC’s LCI program played an important foundational role in the project. Between 2004 and 2025, ARC provided $314,000 for five planning studies and another $8 million for project implementation.

Planning efforts included a 2004 Downtown Master Plan that first identified the need to improve pedestrian safety and connectivity, and a 2015 feasibility study that set the stage for the complete street project.

“The transformation in Avondale Estates demonstrates the power of the Livable Centers Initiative to help local governments dream big and create more vibrant, walkable places,” said Sam Shenbaga, Managing Director of Community Development at ARC. “Successful projects don’t happen overnight but require careful planning and an ability to take the long-term view.”

What’s Next

Avondale Estates is updating its 2014 Downtown Master Plan, thanks to a $160,000 LCI grant awarded by ARC last year, and is also developing a Comprehensive Plan in collaboration with ARC.

The efforts will focus on managing growth pressures on downtown’s remaining industrial sites and small businesses, expanding trail connectivity to the Stone Mountain and Decatur Greenway trails, enhancing stormwater management and energy conservation, and shaping the next round of public investment downtown.

And the city could see a major injection of new housing. A 13-acre former processing plant and an adjacent junkyard site — vacant for decades — are now set to become nearly 800 housing units, part of a broader wave of investment that includes the new Town Green, and a 20,000-square-foot anchor retail building brought about through a public-private partnership.