On Tuesday, February 21, the Pedestrian Safety Review Board hosted a Pedestrian Safety Summit for partners and the public. Speakers talked about the history of the Board, the education campaigns, completed Macon-Bibb projects, upcoming Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) safety projects, and an ongoing study that will define the next phase of infrastructure improvements. To watch the full Summit, click here. 

“The numbers don’t tell the true story. This group is truly working hard to protect our community in the best way we can,” said Mayor Lester Miller. “The Mayor and Commissioners are committed to putting the money necessary behind this program and giving all the support.” 

“If we knew when a car was going to be in the space where a human is and there would be a bad consequence, we would be on the scene every time. Unfortunately, we can’t, We are doing as much prevention, as much education, and using taxpayer money for intervention, traffic calming devices,” said Commissioner Elaine Lucas. “As a commission, we are approving more lighting on streets tonight.” 

“Looking at the statistics, you can see dots for where every fatality,” said Pedestrian Safety Review Board Chairman. “Just a few weeks ago, I was talking to a young lady who said, ‘you know, we don’t want our pedestrians to be a blue dot.’ Let’s encourage our citizens not to be a dot. We want to eliminate all dots.”

The county is currently working with Peachtree Recovery Services to review all pedestrian fatalities and similar accidents to determine where infrastructure improvements can be made to make the area safer. Four years of information is being reviewed to determine types of accidents, why the accident occurred, what could have been different, and more. 

With that review, the county can develop a plan of improvements they can make immediately or that need to be given to the GDOT.  The county has made $500,000 available for pedestrian safety improvements, and the GDOT has begun meeting regularly with Macon-Bibb on improvements to their roads. Plans already in place and those being developed means the GDOT will be spending about $15 million on improvements the next few years. 

“We must do what we can to make our roads and sidewalks safer for all people, and it’s great our Mayor and Commission have made the funding available for that work,” said County Manager Dr. Keith Moffett. “This is something we – the Mayor, our departments, the Pedestrian Safety Review Board, the GDOT, our community – all recognize as important, and we’re willing to do what we can to make the needed improvements.” 

Speaking at the Summit were PSRB Chair Greg Brown, Mayor Lester Miller, District 3 Commissioner Elaine Lucas, Toad Roach with Peachtree Recovery Services, Traffic Engineer Nigel Floyd, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, and Coroner Leon Jones.  

“We wanted to provide a comprehensive update to the public on what this board is doing to study our roads, make safety improvements, educate people who use the roads, and reduce fatalities,” said PSRB Board Member Charise Stephens-Merriweather.