Proposed Budget Cuts Imperil Pedestrians
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 The City of Atlanta has made connectivity--a
street network with many short links, numerous intersections, and minimal dead-ends--the guiding principal of Connect Atlanta, the city's first comprehensive transportation study. Planners have identified extremely creative and visionary ways to re-connect areas of the city where massive one-way streets and suburban-style interchanges currently discourage walking and development.
Making these recommendations a reality, however, will require much more than completing the plan. City planners will also need to educate, engage, and inspire other government agencies and private partners to incorporate these ideas into their plans. Doing that will require a planning staff that is at least as strong as the one we have today.
Mayor Franklin, however, has proposed major cuts to the city's planning staff; some say as much as 35 percent. With just a bare bones staff, the Connect Atlanta Plan would sit on a shelf and the city would miss out on tremendous opportunities to create the connections needed to make Atlanta a world-class city.
ACTION ALERT: Please email Mayor Franklin to ask her not to cut the planning staff. Atlanta is experiencing tremendous growth and increases in density. Without adequate planners to ensure smart land use and street connections, the city's quality of life would plummet.
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Reminder: March 29 Wire Hunt Kickoff
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Help untangle Atlanta's sidewalks by reporting hanging utility wires to PEDS. Already over 30 volunteers have committed to searching more than 80 miles of Atlanta streets. Some high-priority streets still need volunteers. Sign up here. Whoever reports the most wins $200 in cash. Here's everything you need to participate:
Celebrate your effort
by joining PEDS staff, other volunteers and the family of John Lamb this Saturday,
March 29 at 1:30pm at the Marble Slab Creamery in Midtown. It's located at Tech Square next to
Moe's. Here's
a map. After hunting wires all morning, we'll gather at Marble Slab
Creamery to cool down, meet one another and hang out. Hope to see you
there!
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More Police Walk the Walk
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In recognition of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety's "Share the Road Week," PEDS engaged four metro Atlanta police departments in crosswalk stings. You know the routine: plainclothes police walk in well-marked crosswalks while uniformed
cops ticket drivers fail to stop for them. For the first time, Gwinnett County, Fulton County and DeKalb County police officers participated, along with veterans Georgia State University Police.
Police pulled over about 250 drivers at four locations during Thursday's crosswalk crackdown. Some drivers received tickets, others received warnings; all were handed PEDS' new What Drivers Must Know about Pedestrians flyer.
Television and newspaper crews covered the event, helping tens of thousands of drivers learn their responsibilities to pedestrians without being pulled over. Check out the coverage and photos from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Gwinnett Daily Post. The event also attracted coverage from WSB-TV, 11-Alive, CBS-46, Mundo Hispánico and Atlanta Latino.
Most common driver violations: Turning right on a green light when pedestrians are using the adjacent crosswalk; and failing to stop for pedestrians in a multi-lane, unsignalized crosswalk
Comments from drivers: "I didn't see a pedestrian." "I didn't think I did anything wrong. He wasn't in my lane!" "I had the green light when I was turning. Doesnt' that give me the right of way?"
Comment from a passing pedestrian: "I wish you guys could do this every day. The #!@% drivers treat pedestrians like we're invisible! Maybe this will open their eyes." Do you know a location where a crosswalk sting is needed? Email us about it!
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