Stop Playing Whack-a-Mole on Pedestrian Safety
We all want safe streets. Despite that agreement, in the past few months, a 7-year-old girl was killed crossing the street in Avondale, a pregnant woman was killed by a driver on Reading Road, and a bicyclist was killed in Westwood & Bond Hill. While our aspirations of Vision Zero — a city with zero pedestrian or bike deaths — are right, our current approach is not working fast enough. Our streets are designed for cars to speed through rather than for people. That needs to change to save lives.
As someone who has been in the trenches working on pedestrian safety and bike lanes with the dedicated staff at the city’s Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) in Clifton for the past few years and more recently in Avondale, I have seen that we can make progress block-by-block with protected bike lanes on Clifton Avenue, stop signs and speed humps. As a city and school system, we have adopted Vision Zero, which is a step forward. But we’re playing whack-a-mole on execution. Every time we solve one “problem street” another pops up when there’s another deadly accident. We need a more systemic solution.
We need a Safe Streets & Active Transportation Plan and then fund solutions. No this plan does not need expensive consultants to complete necessarily. We have great staff at DOTE who are deep into this work, but we need a dedicated effort to pull this together. That plan should include:
Holistic solutions, not one-offs. There is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to safer streets. But there are certain strategies that clearly work that need to be scaled more broadly. This is why we need to look at our plans holistically across the city vs just solving for specific problem intersections, a similar approach to the 2010 bike plan that identified solutions across the city. The City Administration should be funded to develop this Safe Streets & Active Transportation Plan and include experts that have successfully holistically redesigned streets across other cities.
Expand solutions that work across neighborhoods. A framework to consider is LEAD.
Limit speeds. Speed kills. Higher speeds mean drivers cannot slow down fast enough. There is no reason why residential streets (e.g. Reading, Montana, Ridge, etc.) have a 35 mph speed limit.
Second, Enforce speed limits in place. We need enforcement. We can discuss how we do that, but any parent will tell you that if there is no enforcement then rules are just empty words.
Third, build an Active transportation network including protected bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes. With dedicated bus lanes, not only is commuting by bus encouraged, it also reduces speeds in the remaining lanes of traffic. Similarly, with protected bike lanes, there are 41% fewer accidents for cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. Adding 100+ miles of protected bike lanes that connects with the 34-mile CROWN will allow Cincinnatians in any neighborhood to bike to the grocery store, school or work without fear for their lives. Again there is no “one size fits all” — this needs to be designed holistically where it makes sense.
Finally, Deploy proven street calming measures & fund them. Example: road diets. In Clifton, we recently approved reducing a 1 mile stretch of Ludlow Avenue by a lane and adding a center turn lane. This will reduce accidents by 39% according to the Ohio Dept. of Transportation. This is not the solution for every street, but it should be a part of the “toolbox” of measures that might include raised sidewalks, speed humps, etc.
Recommendations on ‘Open Streets’. In cities around the world, streets are becoming centers of community gathering — a third place — where music, play and laughter enable connection and a safer street. We’ve gotten a slight taste of what this is like on Freedom Way in the last few months. But why restrict it to that one block? Other city centers — Times Square in NY — have expanded Open Streets with side benefits of increased economic vitality for small businesses. Having some streets without cars where families can stroll and dine should be not something we have to go to Disneyland to experience.
Safe streets are not a nice-to-have when it comes to lives. Yes it’s great that City Council increased funding for pedestrian safety, but we’re plugging holes: we need a holistic Safe Street & Active Transportation Plan with an urgent action plan & funding tied to it. Funding should follow strategy & plans vs plugging holes. The imperative is there. We just need the political will to make it happen. I will lead on this issue on City Council.
