GOING FOR GOLD

PEDS hands out awards for making metro more walkable

PEDS (Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety), metro Atlanta’s pedestrian advocacy organization, recently presented its 15th annual Golden Shoe Awards to honor people, projects and places that have contributed this year to making metro Atlanta communities more walkable.

The event also recognizes programs, projects and places that have had a transformational impact on the region during the past 15 years.

2014 Golden Shoe Award winners:

Pedestrian-friendly Access: MARTA, for the pedestrian bridge that provides access to the Buckhead MARTA Station to thousands of residents and commuters and is inspiring increased transit-oriented development.

Pedestrian-friendly Event: Chantelle Rytter, for creating the Atlanta Beltline Parade, a fun, community-building event that now attracts tens of thousands of marchers and observers.

Pedestrian-friendly Legislation: The City of Doraville, for adopting a Livable Community Form-based Code that will guide the transformation of the former GM site into a walkable mixed-use town center around the Doraville MARTA station.

Pedestrian-friendly Activism: Inman Park Neighborhood Association and City of Atlanta for working together to develop the Krog-Lake-ElizabethNorth Highland Transportation Strategy, which helps ensure that future transportation projects serve the needs and values of the community.

Pedestrianfriendly Journalism: The Atlanta JournalConstitution, for in-depth coverage of pedestrian safety issues, including rising fatalities, inadequate data, and lack of safe crossings near the proposed Cobb County Braves stadium.

Pedestrianfriendly Suburban Retrofit: Cumberland Community Improvement District for the Akers Mill Trail East , which connects the Bob Callan Trail to the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area and provides safe midblock crossings for residents and transit users.

Golden Shoe Awardees, from L-R: Knox O’Callaghan (MARTA), Ryland McCLendon (MARTA), Caleb Racicot (TSW), Atlanta City Councilmember Kwanza Hall, Danny Feig-Sandoval (Inman Park), Malaika Rivers (Cumberland CID), Tom Sabulis (Atlanta-Journal Constitution), Tammy Thompson (Perimeter CID), Sally Flocks (PEDS), Jennifer Harper (Perimeter CID), Sharon Shahan (BeltLine Lantern Parade), Joe Henslee (BeltLine Lantern Parade), Jim Durrett (Buckhead CID), Doraville Mayor Donna Pittman, Andrew Baker (DeKalb County), Joe Cooley (City of Doraville), Patrece Keeter (DeKalb County), Sylvia Smith (DeKalb County)

Pedestrian-friendly Streetscapes: Perimeter Community Improvement Districts, for installing sidewalks, landscaped medians and crossings that increase pedestrian access and safety on Perimeter Summit Parkway, Lake Hearn Drive and Parkside Place.

Pedestrian-friendly Public Engagement: DeKalb County , for intense, multi-lingual outreach that engaged diverse communities throughout the county in developing a Comprehensive Transportation Plan.