July 21, 2003
Albany- A normal day of traffic along Nottingham Way is always heavy. Hundreds of cars navigate the four intersections between Stuart Avenue and Ledo Road.
There have been more wrecks at the crossing of Westover Boulevard and Nottingham Way than any other intersection in the city, and the number one mid-block accident spot is also in the area. It's on Westover Boulevard between Nottingham and Archwood.
Traffic engineers say there are a number of improvements they would like to make.
"What we'd like to do is five lane Nottingham from Stuart to Ledo Road. We also need an additional lane on Westover to go onto the expressway. Right now, there's only one lane and there needs to be two and possibly a dual left turn," explains Randy Casagrande of the city Traffic Engineering Department.
Engineers also say re-routing traffic coming off Liberty Expressway under and around the Nottingham overpass would be a major improvement.
They also say the area needs sidewalks and more traffic lights - a lengthy list of projects with a hefty price tag.
"We're probably looking at a 4 to 5 million dollar project," says Casagrande.
City engineers say bus service to the Albany mall and Wal-mart would also ease congestion on Nottingham Way and could save lives.
Right now, city buses don't run to Wal-mart because it's in Lee County. A Turner Job Corps student was killed Saturday while trying to cross the bypass between Wal-Mart and the Mall.
Albany Transit officials say there aren't any current plans to provide bus services to Wal-mart.
Casagrande says the engineering department has plans to recommend their ideas be included as part of the city Traffic Improvement Program.
For now the area remains congested, and traffic to new businesses will only make it worse.
Posted at 5:20 PM by elaine.armstrong@walb.com
Randy Casagrande
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 Worldnow and WALB, a Raycom Media Station. 
