Event Coverage

News Conference

Athens in Motion Commission on the development of the Prince Pilot Project

Members of the Athens in Motion Commission gather for their monthly meeting at the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department to discuss the development of the Prince Pilot Project on Oct. 25, 2022. Photo/Sara Graff)

The Athens in Motion Commission discussed how the new Prince Avenue Pilot Project will increase safety for bikers, pedestrians and all roadway users at their monthly meeting on Tuesday.

The project included renovations of approximately half a mile of Prince Avenue east of North Milledge Avenue to Pulaski Street. Instead of the previous four-lane road, this section of Prince Avenue now includes bike lanes going in each direction and a center turn lane.

The goal of the Prince Avenue Pilot Project is to reduce speed for drivers without causing traffic build-up.

Bike-Pedestrian and Safety Coordinator Daniel Sizemore shared data indicating that if a pedestrian is hit by a car going 20 miles an hour, they have a 95% survival rate, but if they are hit by a car going 40 miles an hour, the pedestrian has a 15% survival rate.

The Athens in Motion Commission is heavily relying on feedback from a public survey which is open until Nov. 23 in order to identify any concerns regarding the project. Visit www.acc.gov.com/prince to find the public survey as well as an interactive story map about the project,

Sizemore said the commission has received over 800 comments on the public survey, mostly consisting of positive feedback.

“We're already going through the online comments and we’re making changes where they’re being identified,” Sizemore said.

This year alone there have been nine roadway fatalities with two of them occurring in the past month. The most recent instances involved a cyclist being killed by a vehicle on Prince Avenue and a pedestrian fatality on Cedar Shoals Road.

Residents view the Athens in Motion Commission meeting over a live stream in the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department where the meeting was taking place in the basement on Oct. 25, 2022. Bike, Pedestrian and Safety Coordinator Daniel Sizemore displays the interactive story map that allows residents to see Prince Avenue Pilot Project plans. (Photo/ Sara Graff)

“We need this reconfiguration for Prince Avenue. We need better crosswalks, more sidewalks, more bike lanes because these kinds of tragedies are going to continue happening,” said Georgia Bikes executive director, John Devine.

Roadway fatalities like these are seen to spike in the months of September and October which Sizemore says is a result of University of Georgia students returning from summer break.

According to Athens-Clarke County Vision Zero Safety Specialist Shirelle Hallum, 20% of pedestrian crashes are fatal and 13% of bicycle crashes are fatal.

The Prince Avenue Pilot Project is one example of how the commission wants to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians in Athens.

Other projects the commission discussed include:

Safe routes to school
Neighborhood Traffic Management program
Crosswalk Policy

“I’m excited about Vision Zero because every time I hear about one of those fatalities or serious injuries I just get sick,” said vice chair of Athens in Motion, Teresa Friedlander.

The next Athens in Motion meeting will take place on Nov. 29 at the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department where residents can view a live stream of the meeting in the first floor conference room. Residents who are interested in seeing the previous meeting can go to the Athens-Clarke County YouTube page.

Why I wrote the story:

This story is newsworthy because roadway fatalities continue to increase and the Prince Avenue Pilot Project is a way to keep pedestrians, bikers and roadway users safe. Writing this story allowed me to further develop my research skills as I analyzed Athens-Clarke County government documents and data.