Arlington officials want help from people who live or drive in the city as they draft a plan to reduce the number of traffic-related deaths and injuries.
The Safe Streets Arlington Plan will identify road safety-related projects and policies that city departments should consider in its goal of zero fatal crashes or injuries. Officials will hold the second of three public input sessions – this one at 6 p.m. May 16 at George W. Hawkes Downtown Library.
People can also fill out an online survey about traffic concerns. The survey runs through the end of May.
Ann Foss, transportation department planning and programming manager, said public input will help determine priorities and concerns from residents as they draft the plan.
“We know that people’s lived experiences driving, walking, biking, rolling – however they get around town – that’s really valuable information,” Foss said. “We want to make sure that we’re capturing that perspective and giving it just as much, if not more, focus on the plan as the raw data and numbers that we’re crunching.”
During the first meeting in March, Foss said, participants pointed out problem areas on maps and pointed out projects they would prioritize with finite funding.
“We don’t have unlimited resources to do everything that we would want to do, so those types of exercises help us figure out how to prioritize projects to really meet the highest need,” Foss said.
Arlington’s study is funded through Safe Streets and Roads for All, a federal grant program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The city received two rounds of grant funding from the program meant to prevent deaths and injuries on the road: a $240,000 grant for Safe Streets Arlington in Fiscal 2022 and $385,000 in Fiscal 2023 to update the city’s Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan and develop a new Sidewalk Master Plan.
The city expects the Safe Streets Arlington plan to be finished in November.
In addition to public input sessions, the city has convened two stakeholder committees. One committee comprises city employees from departments such as transportation, police and public works. The other convenes people representing businesses, neighborhoods, nonprofits and local levels of government.
The Safe Streets Arlington plan’s goal is to find solutions that will eliminate deaths and injuries on the road, Foss said.
“Moving towards Vision Zero to eliminate all fatalities and serious injuries from our roadways is something that the city has been working on through the police department, through the public works department, through our transportation department for years,” she said.
Police responded to 42 crashes that caused 43 deaths in 2023, according to the department’s annual report.
Chief Al Jones told Arlington City Council members during an April meeting that police stepped up community education and traffic enforcement in March 2023 as the death toll rose.
“We were on track to supersede our highest number of fatalities in the city’s history,” Jones said during the April 23 meeting.
As part of an initiative through January, police conducted 3,082 traffic stops and issued 1,871 citations. Officers also held classes about traffic safety; distributed child safety seats; and handed out reflective vests to people experiencing homelessness as part of the department’s community outreach.
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