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COMMUNITY
PEDS celebrating 20 years of pedestrian progress
Left, PEDS considers policy
changes and increased funding
for sidewalk repairs in the
city of Atlanta essential, like
these along Howell Mill Road.
Right, PEDS promotes crossing
treatments that increase safety
for everyone who walks.
SPECIAL PHOTOS
Next time you safely walk in a cross
walk, think of the advocacy group Pedes
trians Educating Drivers (PEDS). In Jan
uary, PEDS and its partners will celebrate
20 years of progress making the Atlanta
metro area safer and more accessible for
people who walk.
PEDS, led by founding president and
CEO Sally Flocks, has promoted safety
improvements that helped change driving
behavior.
“Crosswalks changed from two paral
lel lines to a more visible ladder design,”
Flocks said, noting that in-street signs,
median islands and high-tech beacons are
other tools PEDS promoted to help peo
ple cross busy streets.
In 1995, the Georgia legislature
changed the crosswalk law, requiring driv
ers to “stop and stay stopped” for pedestri
ans in crosswalks, not to just yield to them.
Flocks started PEDS a year later.
Flocks grew up in Cal
ifornia during the 1960s,
where drivers stopped for
pedestrians and police en
forced pedestrian laws. Af
ter moving to Atlanta in
the 1970s, she was diag
nosed with epilepsy and
had to stop driving. She experienced how
dangerous it was to walk to work — bro
ken sidewalks, insufficient crosswalks,
poor street design and drivers indifferent
to walkers. After successful brain surgery
in 1995, Flocks was eager to start a new
chapter in her life. She started PEDS as a
full-time volunteer.
In 1999, PEDS led crosswalk dem
onstrations at 13th and Peachtree streets,
where 50 years earlier a speeding car had
struck and killed “Gone
With the Wind” author
Margaret Mitchell. Driv
ers honked and yelled,
and Flocks was nearly hit
as she tried to walk in the
crosswalk.
In 2001, thanks to
PEDS’ efforts, North Highland Avenue
and Peachtree at Woodruff Park received
the first in-street crosswalk signs. As more
were added, driver behavior changed.
“Good engineering breeds good driving,”
Flocks explained. “Police felt better about
enforcement and the public learned that
pedestrians do have the right of way.”
PEDS’ initial focus was to educate
drivers, but the advocacy group later re
alized that road design was more critical.
For example, one-way multilane streets
like Courtland Street in Downtown fa
cilitate speeding. In contrast, adding
center turn lanes like on Ponce de Leon
Avenue reduces the number of crashes.
Thanks to PEDS, transportation agen
cies are installing pedestrian refuge is
lands, Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons, Rect
angular Rapid Flash Beacons and other
safe crossing tools.
PEDS also learned that Atlanta’s most
vulnerable pedestrians were transit com
muters. The Atlanta Regional Commis
sion found that more than 20 percent of
pedestrian crashes occur within 100 feet
of a transit station or bus stop, half with
in 300 feet. PEDS’ Safe Routes to Tran
sit Initiative pushed for making safe cross
ings at transit stops a local, regional and
state priority. State and local agencies re
sponded. Georgia DOT added Pedestri
an Hybrid Beacons on Buford Highway.
Midtown Alliance partnered with the city
of Atlanta to install Rapid Flash Beacons
on 10th Street at the Midtown MARTA
station.
More pedestrian advocacy is still need
ed, especially for city of Atlanta sidewalk
repairs, Flocks said. Sidewalk funding and
policies are both broken, she said. City of
ficials cut the proposed $40 million for
sidewalk repairs and $35 million for curb
ramps on the infrastructure bond project
list to $5 million. The city also maintains
the option to bill property owners for side
walk repairs, something Flocks said the
city is unlikely to enforce.
To PEDS, sidewalks are shared resourc
es that increase walkability and connectiv
ity, and improve public transit accessibili
ty. So, sidewalk repairs should be funded
by all taxpayers — like in Charleston, Char
lotte and D.C.
“Every sector — and every one of us —
has a role to play in increasing walking
and making our communities walkable,”
Flocks said.
A PEDS 20th Anniversary Celebration
will be held Jan. 26 from 6-8 p.m. at Tlse
Wrecking Bar, 292 Moreland Ave. For more
about PEDS, visit PEDS.org.
Petition Number:
SANDY SPRINGS NOTICE OF REZONING
RZ15-0084
Petitioner:
City of Sandy Springs
Property Location:
124 & 126 Johnson Ferry Road
Present Zoning:
O-l (Office Institutional; RZ08-011) & R-4 (Single Family Dwelling)
Request:
To rezone the property subsequently to a land exchange between 124
Johnson Ferry Road and former Masonic Lodge property to O-l.
Public Hearings:
Planning Commission
January 21, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.
Mayor and City Council
February 16, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.
Location:
Sandy Springs City Hall, Morgan Falls Office Park
7840 Roswell Road, Building 500, Sandy Springs, Georgia 30350
770-730-5600
PEDS
working today for a walkable tomorrow
SANDY SPRINGS NOTICE OF VARIANCE PETITION
Petition Number: V15-0046
Petitioner:
Kacy & Ross Homans
Property Location:
220 Abington Drive
Request:
One (1) primary variance from Section 4.3.4.B.2 of the City of Sandy
Springs Zoning Ordinance to encroach three and a half (3.5) feet into the
required ten (10) foot setback for play equipment.
Public Hearings:
Board of Appeals
January 14, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
Location:
Sandy Springs City Hall, Morgan Falls Office Park
7840 Roswell Road, Building 500, Sandy Springs, Georgia 30350
770-730-5600
SANDY SPRINGS NOTICE OF VARIANCE PETITION
Petition Number:
V15-0045
Petitioner:
Thomas & Emily Followill
Property Location:
380 Montevallo Drive
Request:
One (1) primary variance from Section 6.4.3.C of the City of Sandy
Springs Zoning Ordinance to encroach six (6) feet into the required ten
(10) foot setback to allow for an existing carport and to encroach one
and half (1.5) feet into the required ten (10) foot setback to allow for an
existing home and a proposed second floor addition.
Public Hearings:
Board of Appeals
January 14, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
Location:
Sandy Springs City Hall, Morgan Falls Office Park
7840 Roswell Road, Building 500, Sandy Springs, Georgia 30350
770-730-5600
20 | DEC. 25,2015 — JAN. 7, 2016 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
