SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento city council adopted a resolution in 2017 to stop deadly crashes and serious traffic-related injuries on Sacramento city streets by 2027.
The program is called Vision Zero. Vision Zero is a Swedish philosophy created in the 1990s with the idea crashes aren't accidents because they are preventable by addressing traffic issues.
The Sacramento city council later adopted a Vision Zero action plan in 2018 to start making Sacramento streets safer for everyone.
Debra Banks is the executive director of the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA). She supports the program's commitment to safe streets.
Her passion was kickstarted by a biking crash resulting in seven surgeries and a lengthy recovery. Banks says she and her friends were hit by a drunk driver while biking.
"For me, it's been a watershed moment because it led me to the place where I am now as the executive director of SABA. It turned on that light switch of advocacy, which is the silver lining in the injury," said Banks.
Many areas around Sacramento have safe conditions for walkers, bicyclists, and cars, but not everywhere. Banks says she wants the Sacramento city council to make Vision Zero a priority.
"It's really important that we get our streets to be safe for everybody and that's one of the beautiful tenants of vision zero," said Banks.
Jennifer Donlon Wyant, Transportation Planning Manager for the city of Sacramento, says they focused on systemic issues in underserved communities. This means addressing traffic issues in spots with the most traffic-related collisions and deaths.
"Those systemic issues are in our most under-resourced and disadvantaged communities in Sacramento. The five streets with the highest numbers of severe injuries and fatalities are Marysville Boulevard, El Camino, Broadway, Stockton, lower Stockton, and Florin Rd," said Wyant.
Wyant says funding has been secured for both Broadway between MLK and Stockton, and Florin Road near Luther Burbank High School. Construction should start in the next couple of years.
According to traffic data, school areas are not necessarily the most problematic but keeping kids safe is a big priority. Improving traffic safety around school areas is another piece of the vision zero puzzle.
Twenty Sacramento schools nearest to areas with high numbers of injuries and fatalities were identified with the help of school staff and parents. Now, there are improvement plans in place and funding to put them into action.
Over $2 million in funding for the improvements around those 20 schools was just approved with the help of Congresswoman Matsui. Outside of the $2 million, around $15 million in grants have gone to Sacramento's Vision Zero efforts since 2018.
Data shows impaired driving and speeding are contributing to crashes in the city of Sacramento.
"We’ve got to do something to change our infrastructure, change the streets that were made for cars," said Banks.
Wyant says they applied for federal funding to find and create solutions in problematic traffic areas. The money would come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure law to improve places like Marysville Boulevard.
She says transportation money is complex – and they don't usually get money from the city's general fund. She says most of the Vision Zero funding comes from gas or sales taxes or grants.
Projects can encourage slower driving, but much of the responsibility is up to drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians to obey laws and stay alert.
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