Macon Road Safety Overview

Road safety is a key issue of discussion in Macon, GA. For years, Macon has been one of the most dangerous places in the state for pedestrians. This fact has led local officials to take action to better protect the city’s residents. If you are living or planning to visit Macon, it is vital to learn more about the outlook for road safety in the community to avoid accidents.

Gray Highway Pedestrian Fatalities

Macon-Bibb County has a pedestrian fatality rate of 11.1 fatalities per 100,000 residents. That rate is five times the national average.

A significant part of this statistic is due to Gray Highway. In 2021 alone, 17 pedestrians died on Bibb County roads, and many of those deaths occurred on Gray Highway. Gray Highway is a six-lane highway surrounded by retail stores, housing developments, fast food restaurants, and gas stations. 

People who live in those housing developments need to cross the highway regularly and don’t always have access to cars. Certain routes are used so often that pedestrians have worn dirt paths in the surrounding overgrown grass.

Unfortunately, where these paths meet the highway is where tragedy occurs. Gray Highway has no sidewalks, pedestrian refuges, bike lanes, or marked crosswalks, and the lighting is limited. People crossing the highway or walking along the edge have no meaningful protection from the vehicles driving by, often over 60 miles per hour.

The situation grew serious enough for the state to commission a road safety audit for Gray Highway. Despite that audit resulting in multiple recommendations for improvements on the highway, only some of those recommendations have been implemented.

Georgia Highway Improvements

County officials have taken steps to mitigate this problem. Recently, medianettes were installed on Gray Highway. These medianettes are supposed to slow down traffic and provide a haven for pedestrians while they are crossing the highway.

Unfortunately, medianettes are far from a perfect solution. While they should cut down on pedestrian fatalities, they may not have the significant effect that other solutions would.

Another option could be a HAWK crosswalk system. This system would allow pedestrians to push a button to stop traffic before they cross the highway. It is one of the most effective safety features available today for pedestrians trying to cross a busy highway.

Paying for these improvements is another challenge, though. The city and county have fought endlessly to get approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for funds to improve Gray Highway. So far, that effort has been met with failure.

Last year, the county attempted a different approach. It signed up for a $4 million grant from the Safe Streets and Roads for All federal program. 

If the grant comes through, the money will be spent to completely retrofit Gray Highway with:

• New sidewalks
• Additional lighting
• Marked crosswalks
• Bike lanes
• Pedestrian crossing solutions

The county has agreed to provide $1 million of local money to support this cause. Hopefully, this can convince the federal agency to support the project.

Efforts To Secure State Help

The state is aware of the problems with Gray Highway but doesn’t currently have any plans to make improvements. While the state set aside $1 million for pedestrian safety, that money largely ended up supporting a project for the Eisenhower Parkway.

Fortunately, this highway is also located in Macon, so improvements on it do improve overall road safety in the city and county. However, local officials believe that the road isn’t as high a priority as the Gray Highway. They have fought for years to convince state officials of this fact.

The Risk of Car Accidents in Macon

Pedestrian accidents in Macon are, in some ways, just an example of a larger problem. According to ConsumerAffairs, Macon is the fourth deadliest city for car accidents among 195 U.S. cities that were studied. In 2022, there were 29.45 fatal crashes per 100,000 people, which is more than double the national average.

Perhaps the most concerning part of this statistic is that even if all pedestrian accidents were removed from the data, that rate would still be higher than the national average. Adding pedestrian infrastructure does not solve all the problems that Macon is facing regarding accidents.

Causes of Macon Car Crashes

One reason for this elevated rate of accidents is the city’s layout. Macon sits at a crossroads of several interstates and major state highways. This means a lot of traffic moving through Macon every day, and some of those intersections go directly through the downtown area.

On- and off-ramps are also abundant in Macon. With that much traffic getting on and off highways, there will inevitably be accidents. The more accidents that occur every year, the more likely that some of them will be fatal.

At least one of these interstates is also a high-traffic interstate, which is difficult to mitigate with any type of infrastructure. It is the direct route between Atlanta and Florida. Short of another major highway being installed to run the same route — similar to how the Garden State Parkway and I-95 parallel each other in New Jersey — this will always be a crowded route.

Finally, there is no other major city or stopping point along that interstate until it reaches Tampa. This means that the city remains a popular place for cars and trucks to take a break, which further increases the amount of vehicles moving on and off the freeway in Macon.

Navigating Macon Safely As a Driver or Pedestrian

Macon has one of the most concerning records for road safety in Georgia for both pedestrian and traffic fatalities. While Georgia officials are committed to improving this issue, they have yet to agree on an approach that will resolve it.

If you live in Macon, Georgia, avoid crossing highways on foot, if possible. When driving in the city, practice safe driving at all times, and plan your routes to avoid the busiest intersections and highways when you can.