Perils For Pedestrians 272

• The National Transportation Safety Board did a Special Investigation Report on Pedestrian Safety.
• We talk with the president of Bike Baton Rouge.

Perils For Pedestrians 271

• We look at pedestrian improvements in Decatur, Georgia.
• We talk with a wheelchair user in Atlanta.
• PEDS advocates for pedestrians in Atlanta.
• We attend Walk to School Day in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
• We drop in on the Lantern Parade on the Atlanta Beltline Trail.

Perils For Pedestrians 270: Atlanta

We visit Atlanta, Georgia.

• The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has a new Council on Active Transportation.
• We drop by the Georgia Tech Sidewalk Research Lab.
• We meet the head of the Buckhead Community Improvement District.

Perils For Pedestrians 269: New Orleans

We visit New Orleans, Louisiana.

• We learn about 8 80 Cities and Open Streets.
• We talk with the executive director of Friends of Lafitte Greenway.
• Bike Easy works to make bicycling easy, safe, and fun.
• The Louisiana Secretary of Transportation addresses the Walk - Bike - Place Conference.
• We hear about the Great American Rail Trail.

Perils For Pedestrians 268: Knoxville

We visit Knoxville, Tennessee.

• Refuge islands help pedestrians cross a five lane arterial.
• We talk with the president of Bike-Walk Knoxville.
• We look at a street that had a road diet.
• We travel to Tokyo to take a peek at Shibuya Crossing: "The World's Busiest Crosswalk".

Perils For Pedestrians 267: Vicksburg Bridge

We travel to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where an old bridge is closed to pedestrians.

• We talk with the Superintendent of the Vicksburg Bridge Commission of Warren County.
• We learn about Friends of the Vicksburg Bridge.
• We meet a community health advocate who wants people to walk on the bridge.
• We watch a train cross the bridge.

Perils For Pedestrians 266

• We learn about a new publication, "Meeting the Needs of People Walking".
• Walk21 holds their annual conference in Bogota, Colombia.
• The United Nations Environment Program helps cities improve conditions for pedestrians.
• The National Association of City Transportation Officials has produced a "Global Street Design Guide".
• We talk with the President of Pepco Holdings about a new trail under their power lines in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
• We talk with the Chair of the Park and Planning Commission about trails and Rights Of Way.

Perils For Pedestrians 265: Bogotá

We visit Bogota, Colombia.

• We talk with the creator of Ciclovia, where bicyclists take over a network of streets every Sunday.
• We talk with the head of the Colombian Pedestrian Foundation.
• Ciclovia in the rain.

APBP Lifetime Achievement Awards

The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals Lifetime Achievement Award:

"The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has made a substantial commitment to the profession during his or her lifetime and who has shown excellence in the field of bicycle and pedestrian planning, design, advocacy, and/or education. The award distinguishes those whose vision and determination have made their communities better places to bicycle and walk and who inspire the rest of us. This award is open to both APBP members and non-members who have contributed to our profession. A person may be nominated posthumously, after retirement, or while still working in the field."

Over half of the winners have appeared on "Perils For Pedestrians".  (To go directly to an interview on any of the YouTube videos, click on the timecode in the individual video description on YouTube.)

Lifetime Achievement Award Winners:

2019  Sally Flocks, President and CEO of PEDS 

(PFP 28, 5th segment)

2018  Randy Wade, AICP, former director for Pedestrian Projects Group with the New York City Department of Transportation

2017  Norma Moores, P. Eng., Associate and Manager, Active Transportation, IBI Group

2016  Barbara McCann, Director, Office of Safety, Energy and Environment for the U.S. Department of Transportation

2015  Deb Hubsmith, Founder, Safe Routes to School National Partnership

(PFP 135, 1st segment)

2014  Jeff Olson, RA, Principal, Alta Planning + Design

(PFP 131, 7th segment)

2013  Anne Lusk, PhD, Research Scientist, Harvard School of Public Health

2012  Charles Zegeer, Director, Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC), UNC-HSRC

(PFP 71, 1st segment)

2011  Mary Paul Meletiou, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager (retired), NC-DOT and ITRE

         Tom Huber, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator (retired), WI DOT

2010  Lois Thibault, Director of Research (retired), U.S. Access Board, Washington, D.C.

(PFP 138, 1st segment)

2009  Bettina Zimny, Director of Planning, The RBA Group, Morristown, N.J.

2008  Suzan Pinsof, Principal, Suzan Anderson Pinsof & Associates, Chicago, IL

          Linda Crider, Executive Director, Bike Florida
(PFP 82, 2nd segment)

2007  Michael Ronkin, Founder and Principal, Designing Streets for People

(PFP 15, 2nd segment)

2006  Bill Feldman, Manager, Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects, The RBA Group, Morristown, N.J.

2005  John LaPlante, Director of Traffic Engineering, T.Y. Lin International, Chicago, IL

(PFP 60, 3rd segment)

2004  Bill Wilkinson, Executive Director, National Center for Bicycling and Walking, Bethesda, MD

(PFP 4, 6th segment)

         John Williams, Editor and Senior Planner, National Center for Bicycling and Walking, Bethesda, MD

(PFP 63, 3rd segment)

2003  Andy Clarke, President, League of American Bicyclists, Washington, D.C.  (Distinguished Service)

(PFP 77, 4th segment)

2002  John Fegan, FHWA, Washington, D.C.

(PFP 74, 4th segment)

2001  Peter Lagerwey, Senior Transportation Planner, City of Seattle, WA

(PFP 240, 2nd segment)

2000  Dan Burden, Founder, Walkable and Livable Communities (WALC) Institute

(PFP 240, 1st segment)

Construction in Bethesda - Tower Cranes

There is a lot of construction going on in Bethesda, Maryland.  Eventually it will result in a lot of jobs and housing within walking distance of the Purple Line and Red Line stations.  In the meantime, the sidewalk closings are a major inconvenience for pedestrians, often requiring pedestrians to cross major streets multiple times to get to their destination.

For those who are curious, this is what the foundation for a tower crane looks like.  The four mounting points are set in several feet of concrete.

And here is the process of the tower cranes being erected at the site of the new Marriott International Headquarters Building.

The Purple Line and Pedestrians

The Purple Line is a light rail transit system connecting Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.  It is currently scheduled to begin operations in 2022.

The Spring Center strip mall on the east side of 16th Street in Silver Spring was demolished to make space for the Woodside Purple Line Station.

There are several large apartment buildings across from the Woodside Station on the west side of 16th Street.

But the sidewalk on the west side ends at Spring Street.

There is no sidewalk going past the apartments.

The sidewalk picks up again on the bridge over the railroad tracks.

But then ends as soon as you finish crossing the bridge.

There is no more sidewalk on the west side until you reach Lyttonsville Road.

What would it take to have a sidewalk in place so that the thousands of residents on the west side could walk to the Woodside Station on opening day in 2022?  Working backwards, the sidewalk would have to be built in 2021.  So funding would have to be put in place in 2020.  So planning and design would have to be completed in 2019.  That doesn't leave much time for bureaucratic inertia and delay.  Will Maryland, Montgomery County, and the Purple Line Transit Partners be able to work together to make it happen?