Study may lead to lower speeds to reduce deaths on city streets

Atlanta seeks to make roads safer for bikes, scooters, pedestrians.

Following several pedestrian and scooter-related deaths and injuries this summer, Atlanta City Council’s transportation committee requested the city planning department conduct a study evaluating the city’s speed limits in an effort to make streets safer.

Councilman Andre Dickens presented the legislation at last week’s committee meeting after he said residents suggested lower speed limits to make streets safer for bicyclists, pedestrians and scooter riders. The legislation also comes three weeks after the city held a mobility town hall to discuss transpor- tation issues in the city. Dick- ens serves as chair of the trans- portation committee, which unanimously approved the legislation.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions that came out of that (town hall) meeting that said let’s not just look at scooters, bicycles and pedestrians,” Dickens told The Atlanta Jour- nal-Constitution. “We need to look at cars on the road, too, to just see if the speed limit is appropriate in the areas where we’re having incidents, injuries and fatalities.”

If the Atlanta City Council approves the legislation at Monday’s meeting, the city department would have 60 days to conduct the study and present its findings to the transportation committee.

Dickens said the study would also examine if the city should add more sidewalks or lighting in areas that don’t have them to prevent crashes. That could also mean installing automated speed enforcement devices such as cameras.

More than 40 U.S. cities have changed their speed limits as part of the international Vision Zero campaign, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries through safer street designs. Atlanta is not a Vision Zero city, but it plans to include the same principles as part of its transportation plan.

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition founder Rebecca Serna said she’s advocated for reducing speed limits and thinks the study is a step in the right direction. She’s hopingspeeds will be reduced.