Under current practices, when GDOT resurfaces multi-lane roads, it often eliminates marked crosswalks at locations that are not controlled by traffic signals or stop signs. 

Before and after road resurfacing on Moreland Avenue

GDOT engineers recognize that removing crosswalks is not a solution and are eager to adopt policies that enable them to instead supplement marked crosswalks with other safety devices. Our partnership with GDOT on this project is likely to make that happen.

Please join us on August 10 to participate in a panel discussion about street crossing treatments. Katelyn Digioia, the State Bicycle-Pedestrian Engineer at GDOT, Andy McBurney, a transportation planner who previously managed our Safe Routes to Transit Initiative, and Jack Cebe will be panelists. We'll leave plenty of time for questions from the audience.

The City of Atlanta's policy states that directing people to use the sidewalk on the other side of the street should be allowed only as a last resort. Yet even on one-way, multi-lane streets like West Peachtree or Spring Street, we rarely, if ever, see lanes closed to create temporary walking routes. This is true even where the sidewalk on the other side of the street is inaccessible to people with disabilities. 

Curious about how people travel and where they walk, we set up shop at the new Ponce City Farmers' Market and invited people to mark up our posters. We learned a lot.