e-newsletter header
October 2013  
In This Issue
Candidates' positions on sidewalk maintenance
Workshops train new partners
Police remind drivers to stop for pedestrians
 October 29 Golden Shoe Awards Celebration 
Join PEDS for the 14th annual
Golden Shoe Awards Celebration
Golden Shoe Awards honor pedestrian-friendly people, projects and places.

Tues, Oct 29, 6 - 8 PM
 
All Saints Episcopal Church, Parish House
634 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta (map)
across from North Avenue MARTA station

Meet the people who are making metro Atlanta walkable.
Enjoy delicious appetizers, drinks and great walking music.
Purchase Now
Tickets: $15 in advance; $20 at door.
Buy tickets online through Oct 25
 
Become a  new member for just $30 and get one free ticket.
Do you know which candidates support funding sidewalk maintenance?  

In the City of Atlanta, elections are just four weeks away. To learn more about candidates' positions, we asked each to respond to several questions on sidewalk maintenance.     

 

Check out the answers linked below. You'll see that many support sidewalk policy reform. But others don't. And like us, you'll be disappointed that many of our elected officials, including the co-chairs of the City Council's Sidewalk Task Force, failed to respond.    

 

 Mayor                                          District 1                         District 6 

 Citywide - Post 2                        District 3                         District 7
 Citywide - Post 3                        District 4                         District 8
                                                       District 5                         District 9  

 

Minor edits  were made to remove links to campaign websites.   

 

If your City Council representative--or any of their challengers--failed to respond or provided answers you disagree with, please call or e-mail them to let them know you want policy and funding changes that enable the City to repair broken sidewalks.  

Contact information is available online.  

Workshops train new partners on pedestrian-friendly design
Training workshops we provided in September introduced the Shepherd Center, Tucker Community Improvement District, and Airport West Community Improvement District stakeholders to pedestrian-friendly street design. 
Workshop participants use an aerial map to document needed changes.

Michael Ronkin, President of Designing Streets for People, provided presentations and led walking and wheelchairs tours of areas needing safer crossings. Participants marked up aerial maps to document recommended changes.

Case studies for the workshop included Lawrenceville Highway, a railroad crossing in College Park and  Peachtree Road from Piedmont Hospital to the Shepherd Center.

Participants at the Shepherd Center workshop included occupational therapists, neighborhood leaders, wheelchair users and many others outside the transportation profession. Representatives of PEDS, the Shepherd Center and other organizations will meet with transportation planners next week to encourage the City of Atlanta to implement recommended changes on Peachtree Road.
The three E's of pedestrian safety
Pedestrian safety requires three E's: education, enforcement and engineering. Bad engineering breeds bad driving.  Given that, staff at PEDS focus much of our attention  to encouraging transportation professionals to install safe crossings and sidewalks.

Yet education and enforcement are also import
ant. To remind drivers to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, we recently facilitated a sting operation at a crosswalk near Emory Midtown Hospital. Officers dressed in plain clothes crossed the street. Meanwhile, uniformed officers pulled over drivers who failed to stop. Minimum fine: $252.

The number of tickets is not what matters. Instead, it's how many people expect they might get tickets. To that end, WXIA, Fox 5, and CBS Atlanta provided terrific coverage.  Please help out by forwarding this e-newsletter to your friends and neighbors.
 

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