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Buford Highway residents call for end to deaths
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 So far this year, two pedestrians have been killed attempting to cross Buford Highway in DeKalb County. One other is in a coma. On April 12 over 200 local residents assembled on Buford Highway to call for safety improvements. Participants lined up along the sidewalk, holding signs calling for a safer street. Motorists took notice and slowed down. Many honked to show support.
O rganizers Yesenia Cienfuegos and Denise
Kim had sought help from PEDS a few days earlier. Eager to connect organizers to those with resources and authority to fix the road, we contacted Georgia Department of Transportation engineers, DeKalb County commissioners, and others. We also generated media attention to the event. Fox 5 News, CBS Atlanta, WABE 90.1FM, Univision, Telemundo Atlanta, Mundo Hispanico, and El Patron 105.3FM all covered the event.
Plans to install safety improvements on Buford Highway have been in the works since the late nineties. Yet safe crosswalks remain few and far between. To date, just four HAWK signals and refuge islands have been installed on the seven lane road. In 2010 the PBS Need to Know program noted that in the previous decade, 30 people were killed and 250 others injured trying to cross the seven-lane highway, a rate three times higher than any other road in Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to begin installing a 2.5 mile median, additional sidewalks, HAWK signals and lighting along Buford Highway from Lenox Road to Afton Lane this summer. Upon completion in two years, engineers will begin installing pedestrian safety improvements on the next 2.5 miles.
 Meanwhile, community activists who participated in last week's protest are unwilling to wait that long for safety improvements. Numerous "quick fix" solutions are possible. To promote faster progress, PEDS is organizing meetings that facilitate better communication between local stakeholders and government officials.
Andy McBurney, who will graduate from Georgia Tech with joint degrees in civil engineering and regional planning, is reviewing GDOT's plans for safety improvements. We will provide feedback soon to government officials and stakeholders.
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Joanna Pritchard joins PEDS as Pedestrian Safety Program Manager
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PE DS is thrilled to welcome Joanna Pritchard to our staff. Joanna was the founding president of the Glenwood Pedestrian Safety Initiative in 2003, a community organization that prompted DeKalb County to implement a two-mile road diet and other safety improvements on Glenwood Road in DeKalb County. In 2005 PEDS recognized Joanna with a Golden Shoe Award.
As Pedestrian Safety Program Manager, Joanna Pritchard will work with government officials, community leaders and the media to help overcome barriers to walking. Joanna put her Spanish language skills to use speaking with the community and the media about the recent Buford Highway protest.
Joanna is a native of the United Kingdom, has degrees in economics and anthropology, and recently returned from two years in Haiti managing community infrastructure and health projects. Joanna loves walking, gardening, cycling to work, bird watching with her family, and promoting healthy, sustainable communities.
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Safe Routes to Transit focus group meetings
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As part of our Safe Routes to Transit Initiative, Josh Levin is observing pedestrian behavior at HAWK signals and other locations. Do people understand the need to push buttons to activate signals? And how long are people willing to wait to get a protected crossing? How far will people walk to use a crosswalk?
Josh, a graduate student in transportation planning at Georgia Tech, has organized several focus group meetings to discuss barriers to walking to transit. Participants have provided useful information. At the Atlanta Regional Commission's Senior Advisory committee shown below, many people identified missing sidewalks and distance to transit stops as primary barriers to using transit.
At a focus group Josh held at the Latin American Association, participants cared less about which safety improvements were selected than about getting some improvements installed soon. People also expressed concern about unfair targeting by DeKalb County police officers. Josh will meet with residents of the Pittsburgh neighborhood next week to gather input from intown transit users.
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 Help make metro Atlanta walkable!
  
PEDS is a member-based advocacy group dedicated to making metro Atlanta safe and accessible for all pedestrians. 404-685-8722 peds.org
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