Neighbors march for safer sidewalks in southwest Atlanta

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Dozens of neighbors marched through the streets of Southwest Atlanta on Thursday evening.

The group included seniors with wheelchairs and walkers, along with babies being pushed by their parents in strollers.

The residents hoped to highlight the lack of sidewalks within the Capitol View neighborhood.

The group’s patience reached a final straw this week as the Atlanta City Council approved $120 million in bond funding for a large-scale transportation project in order to make over downtown in advance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Zachary Adriaenssens organized Thursday’s march. He and other neighbors have been told by local leaders that there isn’t any funding available to fill the gaps in their existing sidewalks.

“The City of Atlanta needs to be responsive to its residents,” Adriaenssens said. “We cannot call ourselves a world-class city if we have seniors in wheelchairs walking in the street.”

According to GDOT data, nine pedestrians were killed in Atlanta City Council’s District 12 in 2023.

Back in 2019, KaeAnne Parris was hit by a car while riding her bike at the intersection of Dill Avenue and Allene Avenue.

“Someone hit me going west in their car,” she said. “I was flung into the middle of the road and had to go to the hospital via an ambulance.”

In the five years since that crash, the City of Atlanta has added a crosswalk and signs at that intersection.

As the sidewalks continue to crumble apart in Capitol View, Parris said these changes simply aren’t enough.

“I think people are still going to keep getting hit and killed,” she said. “It’s a really big problem.”

Hila Isseks was one of the neighbors marching up Allene Avenue towards the Beltline on Thursday.

Last October, her one-year-old son Lev, was hit by car while she was walking him in a stroller.

“I was horrified, I had to call an ambulance,” she said. “Thankfully, I swerved a bit and he survived.”

Atlanta News First reached out to the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) about these concerns for safety.

“With limited financial resources available for sidewalk repairs and new installations annually, ATLDOT uses a citywide inventory of existing and missing sidewalks combined with a Safety, Equity, and Mobility Model to prioritize sidewalk segments for funding,” an ATLDOT spokesperson said in a statement. “Priority is always given to areas lacking sidewalk connectivity, or in proximity to/overlapping with a variety of geographic and social factors.”

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