Cutting the ribbon on the extension to the Empire Boulevard protected walk/bike lane was a full-circle moment for District 12 Council member Antonio Lewis.
A Crawford Long Middle School alum, he used to take a similar route to school. Now, both students and families will have a protected route to walk or bike along Empire Boulevard from Ward Drive SW to Mt. Zion Road, which includes Crawford Long Middle School.
“This is more than just special to me. This is more than just a ribbon cutting to me,” said Council member Lewis. “This represents a new chapter in our community. One that says we care about safety, we care about health, and we care about our citizens.”
Led by Atlanta Department of Transportation, the walk/bike lane extension was funded through District 12 Safe Route to Schools discretionary funding. In June 2023, Atlanta City Council adopted to allocate $125,000.00 from the District 12 Discretionary Fund Account to the Department of Transportation to fund Safe Routes to Schools projects in District 12.
This extended the protected lane from Oak Drive SW to Mt. Zion Road. The original segment of the protected walk/bike lane, which ran along Empire Boulevard from Ward Drive SW to Oak Drive SW, was completed in 2023 with generous support from General Motors and National Center for Safe Routes to School.
As Crawford Long Middle School was the kickoff for the department’s Safe Routes to Schools pilot initiative, being able to give students a protected pedestrian lane all the way to school was a full-circle moment for ATLDOT, too.
“Our team of engineers, planners, Safe Routes to Schools professionals are laser-focused on designing street that protect out most vulnerable users: From school children to seniors and everyone in-between,” said ATLDOT Commissioner Solomon Caviness.
