MAKE PRINCE SAFE NOW – TAKE ACTION THIS MONTH!

September 15, 2005

Prince Avenue between downtown and Milledge Avenue will be repaved in October. In recent years, hundreds of citizens have formally and informally asked that this segment of Prince be made safe and accessible for all its many users - including neighborhood residents, business patrons, churchgoers, and school children - whether they are traveling by car, by bus, on foot or on a bike.

Repaving presents the most economical opportunity to add traffic calming features. Yet Athens-Clarke County does not intend to improve safety on Prince. When Prince is repaved in just a few weeks it will be striped exactly as it appears today: four lanes for cars, no new safety measures for people.

Some officials have said they want to avoid the controversy of making this part of Prince safe now, in hopes of making the entire street (from downtown to the Perimeter) safe later. But there is no guarantee ACC officials will actually go forward with that plan, which could be years in the making even if they do. The October repaving of Prince between downtown and Milledge, on the other hand, is a certainty.

Athens-Clarke County has planned for years to restripe this segment of Prince, a decision supported by broad public support for a calmer, safer street. Local officials have the power to follow through on those plans NOW - but they won’t unless they hear from you. It is crucial to act now, as this opportunity may not come again for another 10 or 15 years.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Call, write or send an e-mail to the mayor and county commissioners. Politely tell them you support a design for Prince that will make it safe and accessible for everyone, and ask them to reconfigure the downtown to Milledge segment in October. (Mayor and commission contact info: www.athensclarkecounty.com/commission/)

2. Send a letter to the Athens Banner-Herald urging the mayor and commission to follow through on existing transportation plans by making Prince safe now.
(http://onlineathens.com/feedback.shtml)

3.Download and print the BikeAthens MAKE PRINCE SAFE NOW! materials. Copy the two-sided postcard fliers on card stock and give them to your friends. Run copies of the letter-sized flier to post in friendly (and legal) locations.

IF YOU SUPPORT A SAFER PRINCE AVENUE, PLEASE TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY. THE MAYOR AND COMMISSION NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER