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Syracuse Common Council’s Airport and Public Transportation Committee met Tuesday to discuss progress on the city’s “Vision Zero” initiative, including investing more into high-injury locations through community engagement.

The “Vision Zero” initiative, which aims to increase road safety and eliminate traffic-caused deaths and injuries, centers on the needs of the city’s most vulnerable transportation users, including children and people with disabilities, said Corey Driscoll Dunham, the city’s chief operating officer. Mayor Ben Walsh announced his intent to make Syracuse a “Vision Zero” city during his 2023 State of the City address.

Dunham began Tuesday’s meeting by briefing the council on the Speed Hump Pilot Program, which the city launched in 2021. The goal of the program was to slow traffic for pedestrian safety and study the impacts of speed humps on drivers’ behavior and speed.

“The priority here is safety. The priority is to try and change the behavior to create a safer environment for people that are using the transportation network,” Dunham said. “It’s not about revenue, it’s not about anything, it’s about safety.”

So far, Dunham said the city has implemented several projects as part of “Vision Zero,” including the Municipal Sidewalk Program, the supplemental sidewalk snow removal program, traffic calming, updates to traffic signals and expanding access for school pick-up and drop-offs, The Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council has also been a partner in the initiatives so far, Dunham said.

The council has opened a request for proposals to recruit contractors for continuing work on further traffic projects. Dunham said the first proposals request meeting will be held in the coming weeks.

Moving forward, efforts for the “Vision Zero” initiative will take a more holistic approach, including identifying high-injury locations and investing in safety measures as a default operating practice, Dunham said. She said these goals will involve more community outreach and data analysis.

“We’re looking to prioritize the most vulnerable of our transit users, which sometimes leads to decisions that are difficult to make,” Dunham said.

Jimmy Monto, councilor for Syracuse’s 5th District, brought up the issue of people walking in roads and asked fellow councilors how “Vision Zero” would address this. Neil Burke, a transportation planner for the city’s Department of Public Works, said the department is planning to expand city sidewalks through the Municipal Sidewalk Program, which will both add to existing sidewalks and create more throughout the city.

Burke said he could not predict the exact date that every street in the city will have an accompanying sidewalk.

In other cities, cameras monitoring speed and traffic lights have proven effective in changing driver behavior, Dunham said. Burke and Dunham both said Syracuse needs to follow other cities in installing these cameras in more locations for increased safety. Dunham said that she thinks the city will be able to implement more cameras before the end of next year.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article’s headline stated that the committee announced new investments. This was incorrect. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on October 18, 2023 at 12:12 am

Contact Claire: cksamsta@syr.edu