Gresham Smith is proud to announce that Senior Transportation Planner Erin Thoresen, AICP, and Transportation Planner Andrew Smith, AICP, will present at the Georgia Planning Association Spring Conference on April 19, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Summaries of their presentations are below.
Moving Goods in the City: Atlanta Region’s Freight Cluster Planning
Presented by Erin Thoresen, Senior Transportation Planner at Gresham Smith, Daniel Studdard, Principal Planner at the Atlanta Regional Commission, Nate Hoelzel, Project Manager at the City of Atlanta Department of City Planning, and Wade Carroll, Senior Project Manager/Business Development at Metro Analytics.
Georgia has seen unprecedented levels of industrial growth over the past few years, creating economic opportunity as well as challenges for residents, businesses, and planners. This educational session will highlight how regional freight planning and local Freight Cluster Plans can guide growth and development, while improving mobility and a sense of community. Presenters will discuss recent efforts in Northwest Atlanta and the Metro South Community Improvement District, touching on plan preparation, engagement strategies, and project recommendations.
Bicyclists on Sidewalks: Why They’re Not Going Away, What We Can Do About It, and How e-bikes Change the Game
Presented by Andrew Smith, Transportation Planner at Gresham Smith and Ariel Godwin, Senior Planner at General Technologies & Solutions.
Regulations for bikes on sidewalks range from prohibitive to permissive. Pedestrian attitudes run the gamut from fear to acceptance. There is also huge variation in sidewalk environments: from pedestrian-filled areas with bikeable streets to long, empty sidewalks alongside “stroads” where no cyclist is safe. To complicate matters, the proliferation of e-bikes has increased bike speeds and weights. In this session, we explore the laws, policies, trends, and infrastructure relating to sidewalk cyclists in Georgia and beyond, and offer some policy suggestions and avenues for further research.