Silver Wins Top GDOT Award

From Patch Staff Reports

Longtime Buckhead civic leader and NPU-B Chairperson Sally Silver recently received the Georgia Department of Transportation's Commissioner's Award.

The award is given each year to a Georgian considered especially influential in promoting and implementing transporation improvements.

Silver received the award during the 2011 PACE Awards ceremony held Aug. 24, in which the the Clean Air Campaign, GDOT, WABE-FM, and area transportation management associations recognized public- and private-sector entities that have done the most to promote programs to improve air quality and ease traffic congestion, according to a news release from the Atlanta City Council. Silver is a member of Buckhead Councilman Howard Shook's staff.

A north Buckhead resident, Silver has been in the forefront of the area’s major transportation-related issues and initiatives. She played a key role in the creation of the Buckhead Area Transportation Management Association  and its activities such as "the buc’ "shuttle, which has eliminated 100,000 vehicle miles and 210 tons of harmful emissions.

Her zoning and land use expertise, honed in the service of the many planning boards and committees she has led, helped create new ways of addressing transportation problems long before they became mainstream topics.

“Sally understood 20 years ago the challenges that would face the Buckhead community as it changed from a sleepy suburb into an urban mixed-use activity center,” “which many today are just beginning to comprehend,” Denise Starling, BATMA executive director, said in a statement in the news release.

Shook, who represents Buckhead's District 7, agrees. “The most important thing I need to know about local transportation issues,” he said, “is Sally Silver’s cell number.”