Slight aside…Though by no means reckless, I consider myself a pretty aggressive walker. When I have the right-of-way I always make it very obvious that I’m about to cross the street and I’m constantly trying to make eye contact with drivers to determine their intention. (if you do make eye contact, they’re a lot less likely to blow through your crosswalk)

Its mostly about attitude that you belong. Putting your head down and waiting for all cars to pass just reinforces the idea that you’re a second-class traveler. You don’t have to throw yourself in front of a bus to take back a bit of the street.

On the other hand, I had to laugh about the signals. One day I stopped a DeKalb traffic engineer at the corner of Ponce and Commerce (by Ted’s Montana) and asked if there was any way they could fix the timing of the lights — the walk/don’t walk intersection there is a joke — you barely have 20 seconds to cross Commerce. He told me , and I am not making this up, that it was the city of Decatur’s responsibility for the timing of the lights! Granted, now I think he was trying to blow me off, but really, this is BIG problem and so frustrating to our “walkable” city, when the timing of lights favor the cars, and not the pedestrians. We really need to work on this; the buttons are just a joke.

.

Without them, we’ve got barriers between our kids and our schools. If you’re a Soccer Mom Chauffeur that may not seem like a big deal but for anyone who wants their kids to become more comfortable and able to maneuver the big outside on their own, it’s critical.

The City does not control the traffic signal system. It is operated and maintained by Dekalb County. However, the City has hired a traffic engineering consultant to monitor the operation of the downtown interconnected system, so if you have repair or maintenance issues with those signals, please see the website for information on how to report a problem to the City.