{"id":260,"date":"2023-03-20T17:58:21","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T17:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/?p=260"},"modified":"2023-12-01T16:36:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T16:36:15","slug":"profile-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/profile-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Athens safe and equitable for all: Planners like Shirelle Hallum are making our city a better place"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sydney Rainwater <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Shirelle Hallum, Vision Zero Specialist (center), laughs with her colleagues, Stephen Bailey, Daniel Sizemore and Jason Jones (left to right). They visited Commerce Boulevard to evaluate its safety\u2014or lack thereof. (Photo\/Sydney Rainwater)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shirelle Hallum stands in a neon safety vest, squinting through her big round sunglasses across Commerce Boulevard as a truck zips by. She\u2019s ready to lead and ready to work \u2014 her boots on, sleeves rolled up and wispy brown hair pulled back in a velvet purple scrunchie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team of planners and engineers walk the cracked sidewalks lined by weeds, red Georgia clay and gravel on the visit organized by Hallum in her role with the Athens-Clarke County Department of Transportation and Public Works. It\u2019s 75 degrees in the late morning in mid-April, and she hopes they will work together to find a solution that accommodates everyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hallum and Jason Jones, an engineer with the DOT, evaluate Commerce Boulevard. They discuss ways to fix it. (Photo\/Sydney Rainwater)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Traffic safety is a high-profile issue in Athens-Clarke County, a community of nearly 40,000 college students, retirees and families alike. There were 352 car accidents involving pedestrians in Athens-Clarke County from 2016 to 2021, resulting in 19 deaths, according to Georgia\u2019s Department of Transportation database<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum is committed to making the county safer for drivers and pedestrians and aims to have zero traffic-related deaths in Athens-Clarke County as the county\u2019s first Vision Zero Specialist. Vision Zero is a strategy used across the U.S. to prioritize transportation and public safety policy, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That vision includes Commerce Boulevard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The street isn\u2019t home to much, except Athens Skate Inn and a new Athens Sports Arena. Hallum said she\u2019s worried about children crossing the extra-wide intersection between the skating rink and the sports arena this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Daniel Sizemore, Bike and Pedestrian Safety Coordinator, talks to the team. They stand across the street from Athens Sports Arena. (Photo\/Sydney Rainwater)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though her position was just created last September, Hallum says she works closely with all her coworkers, and that even though they had never met her when she applied, \u201cthe role was just crafted for me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum\u2019s husband, Chris, says he thinks she is brilliant and that she\u2019s \u201cnever been happier in a job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum\u2019s role as Vision Zero Specialist is not without its challenges, though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI come from an advocacy role; but we’re not allowed to advocate,\u201d she says. \u201cWe’re not allowed to push our agendas on mayor and commission. We do what they tell us to do, and that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hallum tells ACC DOT Director, Stephen Bailey, her ideas for the future of the street. He listens with quiet authority. (Photo\/Sydney Rainwater)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hallum has a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s in public health and is finishing her doctorate in philosophy this spring, but she had to start somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She taught biology at a Title 1 high school in east Austin, Texas, just a mile away from a beautiful west Austin greenway. None of her students had ever been there because it wasn\u2019t safe for them to walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum says she felt a responsibility to, \u201cfind a way to change the system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum moved from Austin to Atlanta to get her master\u2019s at Emory University. Since then, Hallum has researched safety, equity and public works for many top research universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Hallum and her coworkers analyze the built environment and \u201cretrofit old roads to meet new needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prince Avenue is an example of their success in this. The DOT gave Prince Avenue a \u201croad diet\u201d \u2014 going from four to three traffic lanes and adding Athens\u2019 first protected bike lanes despite predictions saying such adjustments would slow traffic too much. This made the street more accommodating to the commercial area\u2019s needs, and it didn\u2019t slow down traffic more than 20 seconds, Hallum said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum\u2019s role in projects like these is largely in the early stages. She does research and runs analyses to identify possible solutions, then helps write concepts and initial design plans and helps engage and inform the public about the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hallum walks down Commerce Boulevard. Bailey is just ahead. (Photo\/Sydney Rainwater)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The hum of a car passes the group in a dusty whirl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum\u2019s dedication to her work is rooted in care for her loved ones \u2014 her husband, her two young children and her late mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum witnessed her mom, Shelly Haugh, who had Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease and was a wheelchair-user, face additional obstacles because of the unaccommodating built environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallum says the unfit environment kept her mom from connecting with people and \u201ckept her from living towards the end,\u201d because so many of her favorite activities\u2014 going on walks with family or getting coffee at a local shop with friends\u2014 were no longer easily accessible to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Haugh\u2019s condition worsened, Hallum spent many weekends making the nearly six-hour drive back and forth from Athens to Raleigh, North Carolina, where her parents lived, to help out around the house, just to drive back to Athens for the work week. Haugh died in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hallum steps into Commerce Boulevard to cross the street. Her smile is ear-to-ear as usual. (Photo\/Sydney Rainwater)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Accommodations are already in the works for Commerce Boulevard, Hallum says. That\u2019s one step closer to a safer Athens, for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThis work is so deeply personal to me because I’m creating spaces where other people can, like, be free,\u201d Hallum says. \u201cAnd they can be themselves and they can connect.\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Why I Wrote the Story: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I wrote this story to explore sensory writing and extended interviews. I covered the city and county government beat this semester, so I knew I wanted to feature the Department of Transportation and Public Works. I chose Shirelle Hallum because of her unique background, newness to her role and her personal love for the work she does. This assignment taught me to reach out with boldness! And to not shy away from hard conversations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Road and pedestrian safety concerns are growing in Athens-Clarke County. City safety officials like Shirelle Hallum are doing everything they can to protect Athenians of all ages and abilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4432,"featured_media":390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,43,44,41,42],"class_list":["post-260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-athens","tag-dogooder","tag-equity","tag-roads","tag-safety"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1995\/2023\/04\/B2472466-F473-4509-96C4-1DD23416D78B-edited.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4432"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-sydneyrainwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}