HomeMy Public PortalAboutCOTI_PR20080108_ButlerGrant.pdfMAYOR
Jason Buelterman
CITY COUNCIL
Wanda Doyle
Charlie R. Brewer
Barry Brown
Eddie Crone
Dick Smith
Paul Wolff
CITY OF TYBEE ISLAND
CITY MANAGER
Diane Schleicher
CITY CLERK
Vivian Woods
CITY ATTORNEY
Edward M. Hughes
P.O. Box 2749 – 403 Butler Avenue, Tybee Island, Georgia 31328-2749
(866) 786-4573 – FAX (866) 786-5737
www.cityoftybee.org
PRESS RELEASE: Contacts: City Manager, Diane Schleicher
For immediate release (912) 786-4573, x109
Tybee Island Awarded Transportation Enhancement Grant by Georgia Department of Transportation
Tybee Island, Ga. – (January 8, 2008) The City of Tybee Island has been awarded a grant by the Georgia Department of
Transportation (GDOT) as part of the federal Transportation Enhancement (TE) program. The City will use this grant
along with local matching funds to restore the southernmost two blocks of Highway 80 on Butler Avenue to have a tree
lined meridian, angled parking, and brick pedestrian walkways.
The TE program was established in 1991 by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, and continued by the
Safe, Accountable, Efficient Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users enacted in 2005. The TE program is
administered by the Georgia DOT’s Planning Office for the state. TE funds are used to provide multi -use facilities, such
as: walking and biking trails and paths; streetscaping and landsca ping projects in cities and towns; historic preservation
of transportation-related facilities such as railroad depots; and scenic preservation of views and scenic byways.
Tybee’s award of $125,000 in federal moneys is for the Historic Butler Avenue Pedestrian Safety Project which retrofits
two blocks of the highway to a 1960’s, historic beach-town streetscape design. The palm trees, wax myrtles, and
oleander shrubs in the median will match the landscaping of medians on other parts of Victory Drive in the S avannah
area.
The project will also incorporate additional catch basins and run -off capacity that will help to control flooding and allow
sediments and some oils and suspended elements to be removed before the run -off is discharged. Pollution control will
also be helped by the replacement of the road surface with the pervious surfaces in the planted median.
There will be a reduction from two lanes to a single lane of traffic in each direction which will help to ease the traffic flow
into the business and residential areas and provide a safer environment for bicycle traffic and pedestrians crossing the
street in the downtown business area. The traffic realignment will also allow approximately 27 additional, diagonal
parking places to be added in the two block area.
Research and planning for these improvements will take place during 2008, with the project expected to take place in the
fall of 2009.
Information about the City of Tybee Island is online at http://www.cityoftybee.org, and the TE program can be found on
the web at http://www.dot.state.ga.us/dot/plan-prog/planning/projects/te/index.shtml.
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Attachments: Map showing affected area; Historic drawing showing median on Butler Avenue in the past