Bicycles and Pedestrians in Roswell

The City of Roswell is a vibrant and active community with a large bicycling and walking population. With amenities such as the Chattahoochee National Park and River and numerous parks, it is important the City's transportation system provides for safe and convenient connections. In 2019, the City completed our first Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. Through the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan process, the City evaluated its policies and practices, identified and prioritized bicycle and pedestrian investments, and developed a fiscally realistic implementation strategy. The planning process went through three distinct phases: a data-gathering phase, an assessment phase, and a recommendations phase.

Learn more about Roswell's recently completed Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan at www.roswellgov.com/BikePed.

Resolution in Support of Walking and Pedestrian Safety

In 2020, the City of Roswell passed a resolution in support of walking and pedestrian safety (Resolution No. 2020-09-40). The resolution signifies that Roswell is a walkable city and that our City recognizes the importance of pedestrian mobility. The resolution also pledged that the City would sign the International Charter for Walking which is a campaign that encourages and promotes walking and pedestrian safety. Through a series of principles the International Charter for Walking helps develop and create healthy, efficient and sustainable communities in which people and residents have more options to walk. Roswell will continue to explore and seek opportunities to expand our bicycle and pedestrian network.

Walk to School

The first Wednesday in October is “Walk to School Day,” an annual event that involves communities from across the country walking to school on the same day.

Check out these maps for how long it will take students to walk to their school from nearby neighborhoods. *Note these maps are for estimation only.

Elementary Schools

• Esther Jackson Elementary School
• Hembree Springs Elementary School
• Hillside Elementary School
• Mimosa Elementary School
• Mountain Park Elementary School
• Northwood Elementary School
• River Eves Elementary School
• Roswell North Elementary School
• Sweet Apple Elementary School
• Vickery Mill Elementary School

Middle Schools

• Crabapple Middle School
• Elkins Pointe Middle School
• Haynes Bridge Middle School
• Holcomb Bridge Middle School
  

High Schools

• Centennial High School
• Roswell High School

 

A Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) is an overhead signal that indicates a pedestrian's right of way to cross the street. PHB's establish a safer way for pedestrians to cross roadways and are typically located midblock along busy, multi-lane, high speed corridors. When in use, drivers are required to stop for crossing pedestrian traffic. When not in use, the signals are turned off, and vehicular traffic resumes as normal. The City installed the first location on SR-9 in front of Vickery Mill Elementary School. A second PHB was installed at SR-9 and Elizabeth Way/City Hall to provide connections to Canton St. The city is currently evaluating locations where additional Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon could be installed in the future assuming funding is available. To learn more about the Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon, visit www.pedbikesafe.org.

A Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacon (RRFB) is a flashing sign placed at both ends of a crosswalk that indicates a pedestrian's right of way to cross the street. When activated by a pedestrian, the RRFBs at either ends of the crosswalk flash, notifying oncoming traffic of pedestrians in the crosswalk.

To learn more about RRFBs, their benefits, and how to use them, visit the Federal Highway Administration site.

RRFBs are located throughout the city, often where pedestrians need to cross the street, such as by schools. These can be found on the City of Roswell’s GIS mapping tool. Click on the “Signals” layer under “Transportation” on the left sidebar.

Request A RRFB in Your Neighborhood

Pedestrian safety and speed management is a community priority. In the spirit of public-private partnerships in transportation, the City of Roswell has developed a process by which local residents, civic groups, Home Owners Associations (HOA’s), or private businesses may request to sponsor and fund a new future RRFB signal at an existing crosswalk. For the request or application to be successful, the location would need to meet the criteria outlined in policy below.

Click here to view Roswell’s policy on RRFBs and the approval process. (PDF)

Click here to view and fill in the request form for a RRFB in your neighborhood. (PDF)

Please submit the completed request form to the transportation department.

In 2016, the City of Roswell adopted a sidewalk prioritization program to enhance the way the City selects projects to improve our existing sidewalk network. In 2021, the Roswell Mayor and Council reviewed and voted to revise the scoring methodology based on recommendations from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan that was adopted in 2019. The primary goal of Roswell's sidewalk program is to fill in short to medium sized gaps between sections of existing or orphaned sidewalks located along collector and arterial roadways. The adopted prioritization process currently uses ten (10) criteria to rank the gaps in our sidewalk network. Factors that give a sidewalk higher priority include, but are not limited to, proximity to schools, parks, commercial areas, transit, population density, project cost, as well as other factors related to safety. The City's list of potential sidewalk projects currently includes more than 140 projects.

The program's progress is subject to the availability of funding. Staff typically request new funding each year during the City's annual budget cycle to help fund the sidewalk program. Staff also seek opportunities to fund sidewalks if they can be included within the work scope of other roadway or capital projects.

In November 2021, the voters passed TSPLOST 2 (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) which contained several bicycle and pedestrian projects that will help fill in some of the key sidewalk gaps in Roswell.

• Sidewalk Gap Prioritization Program List
• TSPLOST 2

• Roswell has nearly 204.8 miles of sidewalk facilities and another 19.2 miles of Multi-Use paths or trails.
• Roswell has 105.9 miles of bicycle facilities.
  • 28.4miles of marked bicycle lanes (width: >4 feet)
  • 44.8miles of bicycle shoulders (width: 2-4 feet)
  • 32.7miles of paved shoulders (width: 0.5-2 feet)