Toledo trying to reduce traffic fatalities within city limits
Oct. 17—Toledo had 15 fatal traffic accidents in the 3 1/2 months since city leaders announced a goal to eliminate all traffic and pedestrian deaths in the city by 2031. It hopes to do that by embracing a national initiative called Vision Zero.
The deaths included five pedestrian, four motorcycle, and six vehicular crashes, Sgt. Adam Fish, a Toledo police spokesman, said.
Since the announcement was made June 30, a task force has been created that will use data it collects from a community survey to help develop a five-year action plan for the city administration to present next year.
"Getting to zero deaths is a very long process and releasing the five-year action plan sometime next year will be just a start," Sean Burnett, city's transportation commissioner, said.
Toledo averages 26 traffic fatalities a year, and 2021 is on pace to nearly double that.
On Thursday, Mr. Burnett told The Blade what has been done to improve the situation.
Created in July, the task force has met monthly to review major crashes, and plan its long-term response.
Members include representatives from the city's engineering services, transportation department, Toledo Police Department's traffic division, Toledo Fire and Rescue Department, the City Council, and the city administration.
Additionally, a steering committee has been meeting biweekly, focusing primarily on high-level planning and administrative support. It has met since January.
The steering committee wants to hire a consultant by Dec. 1 at a cost of about $60,000.
Mr. Burnett said public engagement is "critical" in developing the plan.
Hundreds of Toledo residents have already expressed their traffic-safety concerns and preferences when they participated in the initial Vision Zero online survey which started in July. To participate, go to toledo.oh.gov/zero website and click on the "take the vision zero survey" icon.
"I am encouraged by a tremendous appetite here in the city of Toledo as well as in the state of Ohio for improvements in traffic safety," Mr. Burnett said.
Takeaways from that survey included calls for less traffic in residential neighborhoods and increased traffic enforcement by police, the commissioner said.
Toledo City Council members Sam Melden and Vanice Williams, who have worked on the initiative, could not be reached for comment.
In response to those findings, the city's recently proposed Toledo Recovery Plan earmarks $1 million in federal stimulus money for Vision Zero projects, such as raised crosswalks and residential roundabouts.
"Vision Zero is a strategy that successful cities use to slow traffic and keep citizens safe," Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said. "These resources would be used on signage, streetscaping, and other neighborhood design concepts that have been proven to make a difference."
The city's transportation division continues to work to improve pedestrian signals, high-visibility signage and crosswalks, street lighting, as well as to expand its data collection and analysis in partnership with the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments, the commissioner said.
