Sidewalk operations, Jan 23 Golden Shoe celebration, GA Walks Summit

January 2018

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to PEDS during the holiday season. Your generous donations, combined with the Challenge Match we received, raised over $32,000. Together, your gifts enable us to continue our leadership promoting safe sidewalks and crossings during the year ahead.

New insights on what Public Works is and isn't doing, together with new leadership in Atlanta, make us optimistic that 2018 will be a pivotal year for sidewalks. We're also confident that our relationships with state transportation professionals will enable us to continue increasing investment in safe crossing treatments on wide, high speed roads.

Your support makes our work possible - and I can't thank you enough for your continued confidence in our efforts.

Sincerely,

President & CEO, PEDS

In This Issue

Jan 23 Golden Shoe Awards

Sidewalk Maintenance operations and funding

Georgia Walks Summit

Jan 23: Celebrate Wins and Walk Stars!

Join us on January 23 to celebrate progress and
thank the people who are doing things right.

Golden Shoe Awards are just one part of our annual Members Party.

We'll also share upcoming opportunities and challenges -- and
ways you can get involved in making walk-friendly change happen.

Tuesday, Jan 23, 6 - 8 PM

5 Church at Colony Square

1197 Peachtree St, #528, Atlanta

Enjoy delicious appetizers, drinks and great walking music.

No proactive sidewalk inspections or household notifications

Atlanta's sidewalk policy is as busted as it's sidewalks. And information we received from Public Works in December proves it.

The City Code makes property owners responsible for paying for repairs to sidewalks next to their property. Elected officials know the policy doesn't work. Despite that, t hey've defended it for years.

Documents sent by Public Works, as well as answers to questions we had asked, confirm long-held suspicions.

Some realities are even worse and put Atlanta at high risk of costly jury decisions or legal settlements.

A few facts about sidewalk operations over the course of the past four years:

Public Works lacks a routine, proactive maintenance program.
All communications between households and Public Works about the cost or implementation of sidewalk repairs were initiated by property owners.
Only two commercial property owners received notifications asking them to repair or pay the city to repair broken sidewalks.
If someone used 311 to report a sidewalk hazard, Public Works sent an inspector. But if an inspector confirmed a problem exists, Public Works did not notify abutting households about the problem.

Facts about sidewalk spending during the same period:

Public Works uses some money from the city's General Fund to pay for sidewalk repairs, but hasn't yet been able to determine a specific amount.
Public Works depleted the Sidewalk Trust Fund, which elected officials had created in 2011 as an account for the deposit of payments sent by property owners to pay for repairs.

We're sharing this information with elected officials and have requested an opportunity to make a presentation at a Transportation Committee meeting early this year.

New leadership at City Hall, together with facts we obtained, make us optimistic that we can convince A tlanta's officials to change the policy.

If successful, the city will use tax dollars to pay for sidewalk repairs, the same way it does for pothole repairs.

Stay tuned.

Georgia Walks Summit: an opportunity you won't want to miss

Join us for the Georgia Walks Summit, which will be in Rome, Georgia on March 15 - 16.

The Summit brings transportation and public health professionals, community advocates and elected officials together to share best practices, make pedestrian safety a priority and build momentum for walkable communities.

Concurrent tracks make the Summit relevant to diverse audiences and to towns and cities of all sizes.

Your registration gives you exclusive access to a packed schedule, including plenary and breakout sessions, meals and walking workshops. We're also offering team discounts.

Make our streets and communities great places to walk!