atlantalarry

Pedestrian fatalities in Atlanta

Vox.com ran an article by Susannah Locke identifying the most dangerous cities for cycling and walking in the U.S.  Thankfully, Atlanta did not make it into the worst five for cycling fatalities, but we ranked number three in per capita pedestrian fatalities, behind Detroit and Miami.

Ms. Locke analysed data from the DOT and the Census Bureau.  She acknowledged that the ideal measure of fatalities would be deaths per miles walked, but that data was not availble, so the list is a ranking of deaths adjusted for population.

I never realized how wretched the compliance with pedestrian right-of-way is in Atlanta until I traveled in the Maritime provinces of Canada in the 1990s.  One afternoon in Truro, Nova Scotia, I stopped at the edge of a crosswalks to chat with someone, and cars from all directions came to a complete stop.   I was in my 40s at that time, and in my entire life I had never seen drivers stop for pedestrians at a crosswalks.  Not once.  Neither the driving culture nor enforcement of the law here in Georgia had instilled people with the reflex of stopping for pedestrians.

Over the past ten years there has been a trend in Atlanta to place the bright yellow signs at crosswalks exhorting drivers to stop for pedestrians.  I suspect this does increase compliance where the signs are placed, but that the compliance with the law is no greater than before at intersections and midblock crossing where there are no yellow signs.

The only thing which is going to improve the situation is consistent and well publicized enforcement.  Both the west coast of the U.S. (as reported to me by friends) and Canada have managed to teach their drivers what the crosswalks mean.  We can do the same thing if we have the political will.  People are being killed, and it is embarrassing that Atlanta is anywhere in the top five for this dismal statistic.

Connect the Comet -- Beltline to 'Bama

There is an effort underway to generate support for completing the unfinished and unfunded three miles of Silver Comet Trail which will connect the trail to the City of Atlanta, in particular to the trails which connect to the Beltline.

The Cobb Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan outlines three possible routes for accomplishing this.  In my opinion, and in the opinion of the River Line Historic Area, by far the best route is an unused section of CSX track which goes from the current start of the trail near the interesection of South Cobb Drive and the East West Connector, to the river crossing near South Atlanta Road (which becomes Marietta Boulevard when it crosses into the City of Atlanta).

In 2010 this route was removed from the table because CSX thought they might activate the track.  Since that time Georgia Power's Plant Atkinson has switched from coal to natural gas, diminishing the need for possible use of rail along that route, and CSX allowed Cobb County to pave over the tracks at Oakdale Road, a clear indication that they aren't planning anything for the tracks at this time.

Last Saturday the River Line Historic Area (RLHA) organized a walk of the unused tracks.  Here is a link to photos from that walk.

At this point River Line Historic Area, Bike Cobb, and the Mableton Improvement Coalition are committed to advocating for this project.  When it's complete there will be continuous greenway trails from Atlanta's Beltline to Anniston Alabama.

If anyone is interested in working on building support for this project, you can contact me at larryfeltonjohnson@gmail.com , or visit the Connect the Comet facebook page.

Peachtree Creek at Peachtree Road

My interest in the Chattahoochee River, spurred by the fact that I'm currently living within walking distance, has spun off a similar interest in the tributaries to the River, particularly Peachtree Creek, Nickajack Creek, Proctor Creek, and Sandy Creek.  All of those creeks flow into the river reasonably near where I'm living, the closest being Nickajack, Proctor, and Sandy.

My 90 year old mother is in Piedmont Hospital with a blood clot (she's doing fine at the moment), so I've been periodically going on walks in the vicinity of the hospital. One of those walks took me over the bridge where Peachtree Creek runs under Peachtree Road.  Enough has been written about the name "Peachtree" that I'm not going to rehash it here, but despite the fog of its origin, the streets with variants of the name "Peachtree" were clearly named after the creek, even though many of them are nowhere near the creek.

On one of my walks I took a few photos of the bridge and the creek, including the plaques commemorating two Civil War events along the creek.

Peachtree Creek flows westward, and is 7.5 miles long.  It begins at the confluence of its two main tributaries, North Fork Peachtree Creek, and South Fork Peachtree Creek, which join near the intersection of GA 400 and I-85.  It runs parallel to both Paces Ferry Road and Peachtree Battle Road.  It meets the river across from Vinings.

The photos below were taken where the creek runs under Peachtree Road, next to E Rivers Elementary School.

 

An afternoon walk along Nickajack Creek

As I've stated in a previous post, I've begun taking a long walk every day, to help bring and keep my blood pressure, and my LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol"),  down.  Unfortunately I can't check my LDL every day, but after two weeks, the increased exercise has already helped bring my blood pressure down to the normal range.

My current favorite place to walk is Heritage Park trail, which runs parallel to the Silver Comet trail, and connects to the Silver Comet near the ruins of a 19th century mill.  The Heritage Park trail is roughly 1.5 miles long, and I extend the distance by doing part of the walk along the Silver Comet trail, for a total distance of about 4 miles, most of which runs along Nickajack Creek, one of the tributaries to the Chattahoochee River.

I took a few photos of my Thursday walk along the trail

 

The first is the entrance to the trail, at the intersection of Fontaine Road and Nickajack Road.

This is a native azalea bush.  I've believe they are Rhododendron calendulaceum, otherwise known as flame azaleas.

The trail begins on a downhill slope:

After a few hundred feet you reach a boardwalk over a marshy area.

Then there is a bridge over Nickajack Creek

After crossing the bridge you walk along the edge of Nickajack Creek for maybe a mile or so:

The next notable feature is the ruins of an old mill.  This is also where the connector to the Silver Comet trail is.  The connector enters the Silver Comet between the bridge over the East West Connector, and the bridge over Nickajack Creek.  This stretch includes the Concord Road entrance point to the Silver Comet trail.

Below is the paved connector to the Silver Comet trail, which runs above Heritage Park:

This is the beginning of the connector, taken from the Silver Comet trail.  Note the bike racks.  If you're biking on the Silver Comet trail, Heritage Park trail would be worth a look:

I have about a hundred other photos, but the ones I've posted here give a pretty decent overview of Heritage Park.

Walking

I had no intention of transforming this blog into a health and fitness blog, but those are my particular obsessions at the moment, and health and fitness (particularly healthy food, and exercise) are what provide me with enough motivation to write regularly.

As part of my plan to bring my blood pressure and LDL ("bad" cholesterol) down into a more suitable range, I've begun going on a long walk every day. 

At one time running and cycling were my exercises of choice, and were built into my routine.  I would cycle commute (which guaranteed me at least eight miles of brisk cycling) and had the habit of running either in the morning before work, or during my lunch break (depending on the weather).  I work from home now, and running has been increasingly hard on my aging knees.

Consequently I've begun a daily program of walking.  I haven't excluded cycling and running altogether, but walking has a number of advantages over both of them.  It isn't as rough on the joints as running, and it isn't as gear and equipment intensive as cycling.  It's also something I can schedule at the spur of the moment, wherever I am, as long as I have a decent pair of shoes.

So I bought a cheap pedometer, and set it to measure number of paces.  My target is a minimum of 10,000 steps per day.  So far that's been easy to meet.  I've been walking the length and back of Heritage Park trail in Mableton (which parallels the Silver Comet Trail on one side, and Nickajack Creek on the other).  Walking its length and back is approximately 6,100 of my paces.  That leaves me only 3,900 steps to go, which I've been able to meet just by the rest of my routine activities during the day.

If I decide to increase the base number of steps, the Heritage Park trail connects to the Silver Comet trail, so I can just walk up to the Silver Comet and add an additional leg to the walk.

I've timed my walk a few times, and I'm averaging about 4.2 miles per hour, which I've seen defined as "brisk".

I've always loved to walk, so in addition to the other advantages it's fun.  The modest amount of gear also appeals the part of me which tries to keep everything in my life as simple as possible.  If I'm stuck somewhere without walking shoes, I can walk in dress shoes, as long as they fit properly, and the pedometer is optional. 

For those of you who plan and fantasize about starting an exercise program,  but never really seem to get started, walking may be your best choice.  Just make sure your shoes fit, pick a route you find appealing, start with a distance appropriate to your current physical state, and walk.