MACON, Ga. — Businesses across Ingleside Village are coming together to make the neighborhood a safer and more colorful place, starting with the crosswalks.
Casie Trace opened Artspace Macon on Ingleside Avenue in the fall of last year.
"It's quirky," Trace said. "It's a fun little shopping area. And I see the potential of it growing."
But she soon realized the fun neighborhood that surrounds her studio had its flaws.
"It felt unsafe for us to go get coffee and cross the street and also have a lot of families and stuff that come into our studio," Trace said.
Trace has painted murals around Ingleside before, and this led her to use her creative eye beyond the studio once again.
"I reached out to Bike Walk Macon," Trace said. "We just began the discussion and started talking to other business owners about doing some traffic calming and crosswalk murals and things that might slow people down if they see something colorful."
They began brainstorming ideas to help make the neighborhood safer.
Bike Walk Macon also sent a survey to gather more ideas from the community. They want to include bike lanes and better seating, lighting, and shaded areas.
"We did a meet and greet, like Ingleside meet and greet with different businesses in the area about a month ago, and we got some feedback about what they wanted to see in the community," Trace said.
People designed their own concepts for the crosswalk art.
Trace says she is excited to combine those different artistic ideas to enhance safety in the area.
"The primary focus is to make it safer for people to know where to cross the street and know where the car should stop and all that. Right now, I know there's a crosswalk there and there, but, you know, people don't really see it."
Bike Walk Macon is still accepting traffic-calming ideas from the community. They are also asking for donations to make these safety features a reality.