How $1K in supplies and 2 hours made this Atlanta street safer

Editor's note: Anyone with a passing interest in today’s urban environments has probably heard the phrase “tactical urbanism.” But what is that—and what's it look like in a practical application?

In the following Letter to the Editor, Hugh Malkin, an Atlanta tech entrepreneur, lays out how two hours of volunteer efforts and $1,000 worth of paint and flex posts from Home Depot calmed down a Midtown “drag strip.” The changes were installed a month ago, and they're working—at least for now.

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Atlanta is covered with “crosswalks” across multi-lane roads. SUVs race by with no concern for timid pedestrians who are unwilling to play chicken with speeding 4,000-pound vehicles. A particularly dangerous crosswalk is the Monroe Drive crossing at Greenwood Avenue in Midtown.

This 44-foot crosswalk is in the middle of Midtown’s longest section of road between stoplights. Car parts and smashed telephone poles regularly decorate the sides of this half-mile drag strip.

Making matters worse, drivers in both directions know that on the other side of the crosswalk, the road transitions from one to two lanes. So if a lucky pedestrian gets a driver to stop for them to cross, a driver approaching the stopped car would regularly speed up, illegally cross over the double yellow and aim for the free lane on the other side of the crosswalk.

The pedestrian would never know what hit them. 

This obvious safety concern is why this crossing tops the Midtown Neighbors’ Association’s infrastructure priority list. In 2017, the Atlanta Department of Transportation also recognized this hazard and shared a safer design of the crosswalk with a lane reduction to one lane in either direction and a concrete pedestrian haven in the middle of the crossing. That was part of the Monroe Complete Street Project.

This new design reduces pedestrians’ exposure to cars by 50 percent (22 feet) without impacting cars traveling on Monroe. Since then, MNA has worked with city councilmembers (Alex Wan and Amir Farokhi) and ATLDOT to further increase the safety of this design with a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon, or PHB, that creates a temporary traffic stoplight.

Unfortunately, this much safer crosswalk along with the Monroe Complete Street Project are still in the design phase, set to be complete in September 2028. 

Instead of waiting many years for the pre-construction, procurement, and construction to be completed, MNA proposed a short-term fix that simulates ATLDOT’s design using just $1,000 worth of flex posts and paint from Home Depot that could be installed in less than two hours. 

This kind of low-cost, short-term project was not possible before 2020, when (after being pushed by PropelATL) ATLDOT and the Department of City Planning created the Tactical Urbanism Program to empower neighborhood groups like MNA to lead, fund, and implement design changes on our streets through project review and approval from the city.

Through the tactical urbanism initiative, MNA worked with ATLDOT for five months to:

1. Refine designs 
2. Create safe installation and maintenance plans
3. Find and secure the unique commercial liability insurance required (only one company has this insurance)
4. Gain support from immediately adjacent neighbors through direct outreach
5. Gain support from the neighborhood at large through open committee and community meetings culminating in a vote by the MNA Board, and 
6. Convince city councilmembers, who provided letters of support. 

Through this process, concerns were shared about increasing car traffic and the ability of drivers, particularly those of large vehicles like school buses, to make turns at the intersection. These concerns were eased because tactical urbanism projects are only temporary and could be removed at any time if they don't work out.

The result, quite simply, is one of the ATLDOT Tactical Urbanism Program’s most impactful projects.

The 50 percent reduction in pedestrian exposure to cars is still achieved and vehicle travel is not negatively impacted. Pedestrians only have to look for a break in traffic in the nearest lane then cross to the pedestrian haven in the middle of the road and wait for a break in traffic in the opposite direction. No more surprise vehicles coming on the wrong side of the road.

Drivers are also more willing to stop because both the pedestrian and the crosswalk are more visible. 

This project is a great example of how ATLDOT’s Tactical Urbanism Program allows communities to come together to enhance the safety and livability of their streets, and not necessarily have to wait years to see improvements from larger infrastructure projects. ATLDOT and the community can experience a version of the future design and make modifications if needed. 

MNA raised enough money from the community to purchase the required commercial liability insurance and buy the materials needed. This insurance covers MNA for any tactical urbanism project which will greatly reduce the cost of future projects.

Learn more about the Midtown project detailed above in this document—and how to support similar efforts here.

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• Writer: Despite changes, Krog Street Tunnel traffic still screwed (Urbanize Atlanta)