Pedestrian safety is a major concern for many citizens of Macon-Bibb County, and to those without reliable transportation, the city’s efforts to improve safety are critical.

“For people who do not have money, walking is a necessity,” says Theresa Sullivan, the director of Depaul USA Daybreak Day Resource Center in Macon.

Depaul USA Daybreak is a resource center focused on helping people overcome homelessness. Every day an average of 100 homeless people visit Depaul USA to utilize the center’s resources.

“Here at Daybreak, we’re trying to give people jobs, but they have to walk and be on time for their jobs,” says Sullivan. “If the pathways aren’t clear for them to walk, you know, there are no sidewalks. It is dangerous.”

Pedestrian deaths continue to occur at an alarming rate in Macon. According to the Pedestrian Safety and Review Board, there were 64 pedestrian deaths from 2016 to 2021. Sullivan says the people who utilize the center walk anywhere from 5-10 miles a day, making them more likely to be in danger during their walks.

“Over where Kroger’s at, Gray Highway, that’s a real bad area,” says Larry Camp, a man using Depaul USA’s services. “That’s a dangerous area to walk. I’m serious. If you ain’t careful,” he says, “you’ll get hit.”

Camp says that in order to stay safe homeless people must communicate with each other about safe walking areas. “We vent to each other about, you know, hotspots and what’s not hot as far as the traffic,” he says.

Many of the people at Depaul USA refused to give their names for their own safety, however, sentiments throughout the center are similar. “Sometimes it’s dangerous,” says another homeless person using Depaul USA’s resources. “There’s no sidewalks so you got to walk in the street.”

However, Macon-Bibb County is working to find new ways to make the roads safer for the city’s pedestrians. In 2020, Macon-Bibb County passed a Vision Zero Action Plan in response to Macon-Bibb county being ranked as one of the most dangerous jurisdictions for pedestrian fatalities.

“Vision Zero is looking at this holistic view of what is contributing to people dying on our streets, and how do we get that number down to zero?” Asks Rachel Umana, the executive director of Bike Walk Macon and vice chair to Macon’s Pedestrian Safety Review Board. “It looks at everything from street design, but also to education, police enforcement,” she says.

In addition to the Vision Zero Action Plan, Macon-Bibb county also adopted a complete streets policy in 2021. The policy states all new road projects in Macon must consider all forms of transportation, including biking, walking, and public transit in order to make the roads safer and more equitable for all users.

Though both pieces of legislation have been passed, the city still faces challenges when roads are repaved or other government authorities, such as the Georgia Department of Transportation, are slow to communicate with the city, according to Umana.

State roads such as Grey Highway are wide and have faster speed limits. “That’s where people are dying,” says Umana. “So there’s this disconnect in being able to work just quickly with GDOT to be able to improve that.”

Despite the efforts Bibb-County is putting in to increase pedestrian safety, people without access to transportation are still struggling. People using the facilities at Depaul USA have recommendations for increasing pedestrian safety, including personal and city-wide efforts.

“If you smoke dope, do it in a safe spot. And don’t cross the street right after you done took a hit,” says one homeless man, who refused to be named for his safety. “Lay off the dope, and you should be fine. That goes for the driver and the pedestrian,” he says.

Another homeless man who refused to be named believes the problem is greater than the city’s infrastructure. “It has something to do with the system. If you have enough places for homeless people to go, they won’t be walking the streets looking stupid and getting hit by cars because they’ll actually have somewhere safe to go,” he says.

Though existing infrastructure contributes to some of the dangers pedestrians face, Sullivan believes the combination of better infrastructure, education, and awareness lead to pedestrian safety.

“I think we need to build awareness so that as drivers, as pedestrians, as people building infrastructures, we create a space where it is safe,” says Sullivan. “Pedestrian injuries are 100% preventable.”

Republish