On October 21st, the transportation committee substituted it’s regular monthly meeting for the PropelATL candidate forum, held at Underground Atlanta. Committee members met at the West End MARTA station and rode the train together to Five Points, braving the the labyrinthine passageways through the construction on the station’s multimillion dollar renovation. The event featured candidates from districts 2, 7, and 12, as well as the post 1 at-large seat. Questions covered transit service, pedestrian accessibility, housing, zoning, and finance. On our way back, we took a detour and stopped at the new Azalea Fresh Market in downtown and were impressed by the new shared venture from Savi Provisions and the City of Atlanta. Overall, the trip was a fun change of pace, and a good opportunity to explore the city by transit.

In anticipation of the One West End Community Listening Session on Transportation & Accessibility  scheduled for September 29th, the Committee Chair, Matt H., led a discussion on identifying priorities for improving pedestrian safety and safe vehicular flow as redevelopment of the former Mall West End site progresses. He pointed out that every street bordering the redevelopment site is listed on the Atlanta High-Injury Network, meaning that these streets have historically been disproportionately prone to traffic injuries.
John M. encouraged the committee to develop a strategy for successfully pursuing its priorities by working effectively with the various stakeholders. New committee member Diane J. offered her expertise as a Civil Engineer.
The committee also reviewed the most recent approved concept report for the safe streets redesign of Ralph D. Abernathy Blvd, between Cascade and Murphy Ave.

In other news, Dave M. shared that the ATL311 Fix-It Ferret appears to be working by bringing increased attention to transportation matters that WEND members have expressed concern over. He attributed much of the success to the “pounce” feature that allows neighbors to sign onto one-another’s requests, much like a petition.
The committee meets on the third Thursday of each month. The next meeting will be on October 21st.

The WEND transportation committee wants to hear about the issues that are most important to the community. Is there a pothole on your street? A Missing crosswalk? Dangerous intersection? We want to hear about it!
As a committee, we hope to work together to amplify the voices of the community to build a safer and better-connected West End. To start, we want to build a “wishlist” of the most important things that need to be fixed, updated, or improved, but we won’t know what’s important to you unless you tell us! You can reach out to committee chair Matt Hawkins at any time:
WENDTransportation@gmail.com 470-653-6687
Or better yet, join us for one of our monthly meetings! We meet on the third tuesday of the month. Our next meeting will be tuesday, August 19th, 7:30 PM, at Monday Night Garage. Come share your thoughts, or just listen in. See you there!