Clarksville aims to eliminate roadway deaths by 2050; City seeks public input through April 18
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – It’s an ambitious goal, but the City of Clarksville is setting out to eliminate roadway fatalities and traffic deaths by 2050.
The city now wants to hear the public’s input on the best way to do that through an online survey, which will go live Thursday, April 4.
“It is a very ambitious goal to say we’re going to have zero roadway fatalities, but it’s one of those things where you have to start now,” City of Clarksville Grants Director Lauren Winters said.
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The city is now seeking public input as it finalizes its “Safe Streets for All” safety action plan. The community survey will go live on the city’s website and responses will be accepted through Thursday, April 18.
In the past five years, Clarksville has averaged 22 deadly and 80 serious injury crashes each year.
“Safe Streets 4 All” grant funding will come from the federal government, and is meant to supplement projects already in the works with the city’s Transportation 2020+ plan.
“Some of the things we talked about doing, perhaps, were additional intersections, protecting those pedestrian crossings, putting medians where you have a safe place to kind of pause as you cross these roadways, perhaps pedestrian overpass bridge type situations,” Winters said.
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Funds could also go towards things like traffic enforcement, efforts to crack down on distracted driving, and lowering speed limits in certain areas.
In phases one and two of the project, the City of Clarksville asked for public input and drafted a 200-page plan. The current online survey looks for input on hot spots the city has identified, as well as feedback on other potential areas of concerns. If your area of concerns doesn’t get addressed through this round of funding, it could be considered in future grant requests.
One spot the city has especially honed in on is the New Providence Road area. In the past five years, the city has seen 59 deadly or serious injury crashes involving pedestrians. A number of those have happened on New Providence Road.
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“When we went out for round two, we wanted to make sure we were boots on the ground and really got input from them. Because the goal of this entire federal grant is to have zero roadway fatalities, and that includes those who may not have access to technology,” Winters said. “So their lives matter, their safety matters, and we want input from them.”
Winters said the city plans to apply for roughly $10 million of federal funding, although it can apply for up to $25 million. All projects awarded grant money must be completed within five years.
“Do I think next year we’re going to have zero roadway fatalities? Unfortunately, maybe not. However, we can make these positive steps and impacts that we can look back in 10 or 20 years, see a downward trend, and say, ‘Wow, what did we do?’” Winters explained.
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