- [host Joe Hanson] Think about the last time
you drove down a street in the US.
You probably didn't have this nice of a view.
At best, American streets are forgettable.
At worst, they're deadly.
But surprisingly, some Americans
are at higher risk than others.
In the US, black pedestrians
are struck and killed by drivers at an 82% higher rate
than white pedestrians.
And here in Atlanta, Georgia,
the number of pedestrian fatalities
is twice the national average.
Living in poorer neighborhoods without sidewalks,
bike lanes and crosswalks increases your chances
of getting hit.
That's why the city of Atlanta is trying to make one street
a little more livable,
so people have an example of what streets could be like,
if we prioritized safety over cars.
In many US cities, cars are a nearly essential part of life.
And there is no better example than Atlanta, Georgia.
Streets in Atlanta are made for automobiles.
In a sprawling city like this,
it's hard to get around without one.
But Nedra is a cycling advocate,
and she still manages to get around by bike.
- [Nedra] It's more pleasant.
I feel like I'm a part of a place.
I understand it, versus if I was in a vehicle.
- [Joe] For most Atlantans though,
the car remains king.
But it wasn't always that way.
- [Nedra] I am from here, so I'm well aware
of all the neighborhoods that are bisected,
and have been destroyed either by highways or stadiums.
That really has destroyed communities.
It destroyed the social cohesion, the fabric of culture,
the continuity of even what your eye looks at.
- [Joe] In the 50s and 60s,
the connector between I-75 and I-85
gutted dense, mostly black neighborhoods
in Atlanta's urban core.
And the construction of I-20
deliberately separated black and white communities.
But highways also encouraged sprawl
by making it easier for people to move to the suburbs.
It's a story in cities across America.
And it's also one of the reasons Atlanta
is one of the 10 most populated regions in the US,
but the 316th in density.
Highways also changed the city's streets,
because their design started to shape how streets looked.
And our friend from the YouTube channel, City Beautiful,
is the perfect one to explain that.
Thanks City Beautiful.
- [Man] This is Northside Drive.
It runs through neighborhoods and shopping areas.
There are four lanes, two going both directions,
no bike lane, and some spotty sidewalk coverage.
And here's Buford Highway.
Three lanes in each direction,
no bike lanes and really lame and dangerous bus stops.
These are classic, car-first streets.
They were designed according to
The American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials book,
"The Geometric Design of Highways and Streets."
Mercifully, it's referred to simply as "The Green Book."
This book details how roadways should be designed,
recommending characteristics like lane widths,
curb radii and intersection geometry.
"The Green Book" gets updated fairly regularly.
And for a long time, this was a manual
about how to apply highway design principles
to city streets.
It's right there in the title,
"Highways" come first.
For example, in the 2001 edition,
"The Green Book" recommends lane widths of 11 feet
as the standard, with no discussion of the relationship
between lane width and speeding.
Wide lanes make it comfortable for drivers to go fast.
Faster speeds mean more deaths.
Most pedestrians can survive a collision with a car
going 20 miles per hour.
But if a car is going 40 miles an hour,
the chances of survival
for cyclists and pedestrians are low.
This is just one example of the influence
"The Green Book" has had on city streets.
These policies have resulted in rural highway thinking
applied to urban areas.
Pedestrians are seen as obstacles
to the free flow of traffic,
the primary goal of traffic engineers in the past,
and not so distant past.
Any accommodations for pedestrians
are seen as an exception, not the rule.
That's why streets like Northside Drive and Buford Highway
have incomplete sidewalk networks,
missing crosswalks and dangerous right turn slip lanes.
- [Nedra] It's designed for speed,
It's not designed for a neighborhood.
So the design fails the people who live there.
- [Joe] For example, let's say you lived here
and worked here.
The closest crosswalk is 0.3 miles down the road,
making your total commute more than half a mile.
Unless you're some kind of huge rule follower,
you're gonna cross here.
But the speed limit is 35 miles per hour,
making your short walk, potentially deadly.
Car-first streets also have a more subtle impact.
They don't build community.
Fast speeds with no places to interact,
doesn't create pleasant places to chat with your neighbors.
- [Sonia] And something really,
that has stuck out to me in this job,
is streets are actually our biggest resource
of public space.
Anything that is owned by the city
and owned by its citizens, those are your streets.
- [Joe] Sonia works for the city on re-imagining
what public streets could be,
if we designed them for more than just cars.
- [Sonia] Our tagline is,
designing an Atlanta that Atlantans can fall in love with.
It is experiencing the city, its identity, its history.
Whatever walk of life you're in, in Atlanta,
that public space should be for you.
- [Joe] Atlanta's highways and streets
aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
But Atlanta city planners are hoping to claw back
at least one street from the dictatorship of cars.
- [Sonia] So this is a demonstration project
on Peachtree Street,
and it's really to test what it looks like
to have a public space in Atlanta designed for people.
Peachtree, in the past, has only
really been about moving cars,
and so we are looking at this concept
of what if we increased the sidewalk space,
just had more room for people.
Recognizing some of our past mistakes,
especially how highways have come through
and erased entire communities,
I think a lot of our projects are acknowledging that,
and trying to correct for them, but it's a long path.
- [Joe] Volunteers with the city
made a few alterations to Peachtree
to make it safer for all users.
The biggest alteration,
taking a lane on either side of the road,
and giving that space back to pedestrians and bikers.
They created a buffer out of planters,
and extended the curbs on the streets
so pedestrians had more space,
and added another crosswalk.
Restaurants along the street
can also install outdoor dining on parking spaces.
- [Nedra] Really Atlanta is a blank slate
to try a lot of new things,
from neighborhood streets, safer streets.
But even just inviting spaces
where people can connect to each other,
connect to place, and figuring out how do we,
you know, heal some of our history?
We have a great opportunity right now.
♪
- {Joe] One more thing before you go.
Have you ever wondered, what makes words, well, words?
Other Words, PBS' newest show about language and linguistics
has you covered.
From determining the origins of language,
to whether or not computers can actually talk,
Other Words dives into languages around the world
to uncover the fascinating, unexpected,
and sometimes weird stories
behind the human trait we all take for granted.
Check it out on Storied
and make sure to let them know that Overview sent you.
♪