Pulaski County / City of Hawkinsville Bicycle & Pedestrian Planning

As a participating community in the National Downtown Main Street Program and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ Better Hometown Program, the City of Hawkinsville is rediscovering their downtown area as an important community focal point where residents are coming to shop, eat, entertain, and socialize. Parking of automobiles is a constant problem in the downtown area, along with the congestion and pollution they bring. Increasing the use of bicycling and walking, transportation to the downtown area from outlying residential areas would not only reduce the existing problems associated with the automobile mentioned previously, but would greatly enhance the safety and pleasure of the downtown visitor.

In Fiscal Year 2004, the Georgia Department of Transportation contracted with the Middle Georgia RDC to compile a sidewalk survey database for the City of Hawkinsville. The survey consisted of identifying sidewalk condition, sidewalk surface construction material, sidewalk width, beginning and end points, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), etc. as well as creating a base map of the city’s sidewalk network.

As a logical follow-on activity to this survey, the City of Hawkinsville prepared a Pedestrian Facility/Sidewalk Infrastructure Improvement Plan in 2008. The creation of this plan was made possible through funding assistance provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation. The plan provides local officials with a guide for current and future sidewalk maintenance, as well as recommendations for expansion to major activity centers and neighborhoods not currently served by pedestrian facilities. You can view the plan by clicking on the following link: Hawkinsville Sidewalk Plan. 

Additionally, Pulaski County and the City of Hawkinsville recently completed a partial update to their Joint Comprehensive Plan (adopted 2007). Both communities utilized the planning process to identify issues, opportunities, and action items related to further making both the county and the city pedestrian and bicycle friendly.