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Greetings!
PEDS needs your help letting The
Atlanta-Journal
Constitution know about the backlog of broken
sidewalks in the City of Atlanta. Please
treat the first article below as an Action
Alert and respond soon.
We also want to
update you on our efforts
to improve the Georgia Department of
Transportation's crosswalk policies and to
defeat legislation aimed at undermining red
light camera programs.
Sally Flocks, President & CEO
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Got Broken Sidewalks?
Let AJC Know about Them
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is
looking
for examples of damaged sidewalks, clogged
storm drains, and other things needing
attention in Midtown, Downtown or East
Atlanta. This provides a terrific
opportunity to bring attention to the
tremendous backlog of broken sidewalks in
Atlanta.
If you know of broken sidewalks or other
pedestrian facilities needing attention,
please report them to City
Life. We encourage neighborhood
organizations that
have created sidewalk inventories to share
them with the paper. Daytime phone numbers
should be included with messages to City
Life.
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Optimizing Marked Crosswalks
GDOT Revisits Crosswalk Policy
In response to concerns expressed by PEDS,
the Georgia Department of Transportation is
revisiting its policy of eliminating
crosswalks at intersections that are not
controlled by traffic signals or stop signs when
state roads are repaved. At a recent meeting
with
safety engineers and representatives of
District 7, which encompasses much of metro
Atlanta, State Bicycle-Pedestrian Coordinator
Amy Goodwin was charged with drafting a new
policy based on federal
guidelines.
Marked crosswalks alone
are not enough to
provide safe crossings on many roadways,
including:
- Multi-lane roads with traffic volumes
greater than 12,000 cars a day
- Streets with speed limits exceeding 40
mph
- Locations with limited sight distance,
complex or confusing designs, high truck
traffic, or other hazards.
Yet the failure of marked crosswalks
alone to provide safe crossings at such
intersections is not an excuse to
remove crosswalk
markings and do nothing. If marked
crosswalks alone are inadequate, GDOT needs
to do more, not less. On multi-lane streets
with a high volume of traffic, marked
crosswalks should be supplemented with other
treatments.
We'll keep you
posted on GDOT's progress developing a policy
that respects pedestrians' need to get across
the street conveniently and safely.
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Defending Red Light Cameras
HB 77 Diverts "Profits" to State
House
Bill 77, which aimed initially to ban
red light camera programs in Georgia, faced
strong opposition from police chiefs,
the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, and
representatives of metro Atlanta districts.
In response, sponsors rewrote the bill so it
focuses on removing any temptation
cities might have had to use camera systems
as a revenue source. The amended bill,
which passed the Motor Vehicles Committee
earlier this month, allows red light camera
programs to remain intact -- but diverts 75%
of the revenue above operating costs to the
state to fund
trauma centers.
Meanwhile, the
Transportation Committee narrowly defeated HB
590, which would have reduced the maximum
penalty for motorists ticketed via
photo-enforcement systems for running red
lights to $35.
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