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The goal now is to bring the pedestrian-friendly environment to Macon and allow residents to experience the bike-friendly atmosphere.
“One of the things we found through the research in doing the Macon Action Plan is that a lot of folks feel like they cannot walk or bike or get adequate transportation in and out of the downtown area,” said Alex Morrison, executive director of Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority.
The hope is to connect all residents to adequate and safe forms of transportation, Morrison said.
Locals will get a taste of the pedestrian and cyclist friendly plan through the Macon Connects street makeover event Sept. 16 and 17.
Temporary painted bike lanes will be added to the downtown area for two days so residents can get a feel for the concept. The grant will cover the cost of the lanes.
“Our thought was, what if we just put what they have on the streets in Copenhagen here and let people try it out?” Rogers said.
The project is set to kick off next week with leaders from NewTown Macon, 8 80 Cities, the Knight Foundation and Bike Macon, teaming up in a Macon Connects Ideas Festival.
The festival will run next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and will feature guest speakers from the various organizations.
One of the festival’s goals is to help Macon be “fully immersed” in the idea of of creating a “vibrant city and healthy communities” said Gil Penalosa, founder of 8 80 Cities, a nonprofit that focuses on making cities more vibrant.
The festival will include a launch event at the Armory Ballroom at 6 p.m. Tuesday, where the plan for the Macon Connects project and other related topics will be discussed. A screening of “Back to the Future” at Just Tap’D is set to follow the discussion at 8 p.m.
Other highlights of the festival include a Bike Tour of Macon’s Secret Parks hosted by Bike Macon at Tattnall Square Park at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday.
A community cookout is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Thursday, the festival’s final day. A barbecue dinner will be offered to participants at 905 Main St. near Emery Highway.
A full listing of festival events can be found at Macon Connects | NewTown Macon, and all events on the schedule are open to the public.
It aims to improve the way people in Macon get around and improves the way they connect to one another. If you build a city that's great for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old, then it'll be great for everyone,” says 880 Cities Project Manager, Rossana Tudo.
Macon Connects along with groups like 880 cities and New Town Macon are joining forces to make the city more walking and bike riding-friendly. Rachel Hollar started the group Bike Macon, and she says more bike lanes would bring more people out to explore downtown.
"People that are on their bikes want to be able to explore, so being able to access a public space on a bicycle would just be huge,” says Hollar.
"Now with Mercer's expansion and downtown's growth, there's a bigger need for people to get around other than in their cars,” says bike enthusiast Bill Causey.
Macon Connects and 880 Cities say they've already gotten a lot of feedback from the people here in Macon about the other things they'd like to see improved.
"Some people felt like they would walk more if there were more things to do in the neighborhood, more destinations,” says Tudo.
One of the things residents wanted to see improved was bus stops.
"This morning, we were at terminal station on the bus platform, and we got some really great feedback from people who rely on public transportation to get around. They're just saying how it's really undignified, some of the shelters or lack of bus shelters,” says Tudo.
The groups say they're using all the feedback they got to kick the city into high gear.
On September 16, 2016, Macon Connects along with the other organizations plan to put out prototypes of the different sidewalks and bike lanes that the people of Macon suggested.
Thursday is the last day of the Ideas Festival. It starts at 9 a.m. and runs until 7 p.m. with three different talks about improving our community.
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