Athens Pedestrians First

07/14/2026

East Elementary is getting a new sidewalk!

McKee Paving has been hard at work all week expanding and fixing the sidewalk in front of East Elementary after parents raised concerns over its narrowness and drainage.

Since its installation when the new school opened a few years back, the sidewalk in front of East has had constant puddle problems. It was also built below the legal minimum width for a sidewalk. As around 50 children, plus their parents, use the sidewalk every morning and afternoon during the school year, this sidewalk not only overcrowded, but dangerous when paired with the moving line of cars next to it.

The Pedestrian Accessibility and Bicycle Task Force created a proposal for sidewalk remediation this spring and submitted it to the Athens City School District and City officials. This new sidewalk is the result! Not only is the perpetual puddle by the driveway amended, but the sidewalk width has been expanded by several feet, and several curb cuts have been improved.

06/30/2026

Sidewalks condition, accessibility, and maintenance has been a topic locally here in Athens again recently with a discussion about accessibility at a City Council meeting on June 8, 2026.

There are solutions for the problem of how to adequately maintain sidewalks in safe and accessible condition. If you'd like to learn more, join America Walks for a webinar discussion with Michael Pollack, author of the new book Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America’s Most Overlooked Resource, which looks at the importance of sidewalks from numerous areas of law and policy, and their tendency to be overlooked by both governments and regular people.
He will also be joined by Jill Locantore of Denver Streets Partnership, which successfully convinced Denver voters to switch funding responsibility for sidewalks from property owners to the government.

🌟👟WEBINAR: How can we prioritize sidewalks, the threshold of public life?

Join us for a discussion with Michael Pollack, author of the new book Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America’s Most Overlooked Resource, which looks at the importance of sidewalks from numerous areas of law and policy, and their tendency to be overlooked by both governments and regular people.

We will also be joined by Jill Locantore of Denver Streets Partnership, which successfully convinced Denver voters to switch funding responsibility for sidewalks from property owners to the government.

🗓️Tuesday, July 14
⏰️2:00pm ET/1:00pm CT/11:00am PT
RSVP 🔗➡️ https://buff.ly/onVB8YY