Retrofit State Roads that Lack Sidewalks
The Georgia Department of Transportation recognizes the importance of sidewalks.
PEDS is thrilled that GDOT requires sidewalks to be included on all construction and reconstruction (i.e, road widening) projects with curb and gutter.
Yet GDOT’s sidewalk policy fails to address roads in urban and densely developed suburban areas, where the need for sidewalks is highest.
Right of way costs in densely developed areas make it unlikely that roads there will ever be widened. GDOT needs to provide funding for a program that actively retrofits urban and suburban state roads with sidewalks, particularly on roads providing access to transit stations and bus routes.
Streets are for everyone.
Whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper, we all need to use the streets.
Too many of our state roads are designed only for speeding cars, or worse, creeping traffic jams. They’re unsafe for people on foot or bike–and unpleasant for everybody. Sidewalks increase safety for pedestrians. They also provide a permanent alternative to congested streets.
The state road retrofitting project should be funded with state or federal funds.
A road without sidewalks is an incomplete street, and GDOT needs to correct the error it made when it failed to provide sidewalks when the roads were built. The maximum local match should be 20 percent, the same as it would be for a road project. Without the existence of a road, sidewalks wouldn’t be needed to separate pedestrians from car traffic.