ATLANTA — Some seniors who live near the area where a gas station is being built say it will bring more traffic to an area already dangerous for pedestrians.
Channel 2’s Tom Jones was at the construction site on Greenbriar Pkwy. as heavy machinery moved dirt, preparing the site for the soon-to-be gas station.
Those living in a nearby senior apartment complex say they’re already putting their lives on the line to cross Greenbriar to get to the bus stop.
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“I called city hall to fix this light,” John Walton said as he waited for the walk signal to come on to cross the street.
He pushed the button, and the traffic speeding by stopped, but the walk signal never came on.
“But see you don’t have no walk signal,” he said while pointing with his cane.
Walton is concerned that adding a 24-hour gas station very close to the senior apartments where he lives will make the streets more dangerous.
“It’s gonna be a whole lot of crime and traffic down here,” he said.
People in the area have been protesting, trying to stop the gas station from being built. They say they don’t need another one.
“They got three, four, five gas stations in this little area. Walking distance,” one protester said recently.
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Community organizer Sherry B. Williams says residents in a new community near the gas station are irate because they inquired about what was going on the land before the bulldozers arrived.
“They were told that it was going to be retail. The word gas station never came up,” she said.
City councilwoman Marci Overstreet says there is an overlay that prevents more gas stations in this area. But she says city planning insists this project was permitted before the overlay was approved.
Williams says this kind of mix-up is happening too often.
“This is a problem. We need to stop this,” Williams said.
Overstreet says she stands with the community and opposes the project.
People here say they are not giving up and will keep fighting to keep the gas station from opening.
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