ATHENS-More than 1,400 people participated in an online survey and provided feedback for an updated transportation
plan for the City of Athens.
The resulting plan has been written and is ready to travel among stakeholders and citizens for comments.
A draft of the plan is available online through the City of Athens website at:
https://www.athensalabama.us/489/Athens-SS4A-Safe-Streets-and-Roads-for-A
Work on the plan began in 2023 when the City of Athens received a $240,000 Safe Streets 4 All grant to update
its transportation plan as part of its Vision Zero Initiative. The grant is through the U.S. Department of
Transportation.
City Planner Erin Tidwell said the City pursued the grant after completing the objectives in the City’s 2015
transportation plan. The City of Athens made a $60,000 match to the grant and hired Sain Associates to
oversee writing the plan.
The Safe Streets 4 All Task Force met the past year to discuss key areas such as school zones, heavily
traveled corridors and downtown. The task force included representatives from the City of Athens, schools, civic
organizations, first responders and emergency personnel, as well as citizens and an Athens High student.
Sain Associates worked with Morell Engineering and City staff and attended community events to promote the
survey and shared the survey link to various groups such as the Limestone County Chapter of the NAACP,
Athens-Limestone Chamber of Commerce, Athens Main Street, Athens Mayor’s Youth Commission and Athens
Rotary.
“Sain Associates worked with other communities in Alabama and other states to do similar projects, and the City
of Athens had more survey responses than much larger communities, including Memphis,” Tidwell said. “We
look forward to citizens reviewing a plan we worked together to create and providing comments. After the
comment period, we will move toward a finalized version to present to our City Council.”
In addition to survey responses, Sain Associates utilized statistics, such as crash data and Census Bureau
information, to prepare the plan.
The draft plan highlighted areas of concern and countermeasures to address them. For example, the data
showed that among various age groups, older and younger drivers are involved in a higher number of accidents,
injuries or fatalities. It also indicated nearly 50 percent of crashes resulting in fatalities or serious injuries
occurred during nighttime hours.
The draft plan examined these issues and revealed the top six crash trends in Athens. One of those trends was
side impacts at intersections and driveways. A couple of countermeasures related to this concern the draft plan
recommended the City consider pursuing on its streets or with the Alabama Department of Transportation on
state routes, included:
Oversized, doubled-up “Stop Ahead” and “Stop Signs.
Retroreflective sheeting on signposts.
Removal of sight obstructions.
ALDOT Hazard Boards at T-intersection
Overhead street name signs.
Converting two-way left-turn lanes to raised medians
Implementing reduced conflict U-turns.
Establishing roundabout corridors.
Once finalized, Athens can utilize the plan to seek additional funding for capital projects identified in the Athens
2040 Vision Zero Initiative, which works to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero by 2040.
The draft plan provided potential City projects to pursue, including improvements to Jefferson Street, Hine
Street, Market Street and Forrest Street.
It also provided data the City can share with ALDOT regarding needed improvements to U.S. 72, U.S. 31,
Alabama 127, Alabama 99, Alabama 251 and Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road. For example, based on feedback
from the survey, near-miss counts were made at the intersection of U.S. 72 and French Farms Boulevard,
where Walmart is located. The near-miss evaluation was conducted over 48 hours and showed more than 40
near-miss conflicts between motorists and pedestrians/bicyclists and showed several drivers committing
violations by turning left into a right-in/right-out access point.
“The City of Athens has discussed this area with the ALDOT, and this report further strengthens our position that
improvements must be made at this intersection,” Mayor Ronnie Marks said.
Athens Police Chief Anthony Pressnell added, “We have more bike riders and walkers using our streets and
state routes. This gives us critical information as to where we need to focus our energy on enforcement as well
as to seek improvements to make these areas safer.”
The public can go to the website to review the draft plan at https://www.athensalabama.us/489/Athens-SS4A-
Safe-Streets-and-Roads-for-A . The public can also click a link on that webpage to provide comments on the
draft plan. The comment period is through Feb. 23.
