Forward Pinellas is updating its Safe Streets Pinellas Action Plan, which was designed to help decrease the number of serious injuries and deaths on the county\u2019s roadways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The land use and transportation planning agency recently received a $400,000 U.S. Department of Transportation grant to fund the two-year process.\u00a0<\/p>\n
First adopted in 2021, the plan identifies dangerous roadways in the area and proposes strategies to reduce casualties based on data-driven analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The updated document will include data from the past five years, said Forward Pinellas principal planner Valerie Brookens. The original plan included data from 2014 to 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roughly five percent of roadways are in the high-injury network, where 60-70 percent of fatal and serious injury crashes happen, she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Forward Pinellas will reevaluate the high-injury network, which includes U.S. 19 hotspots. Additionally, it will introduce a new high-risk network in the revised plan, Brookens said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These roads have the \u201ccharacteristics\u201d to become dangerous. Some may not be on the state roadway system and are controlled by municipality governments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Additionally, Forward Pinellas will be using near-miss technology to collect data in areas where less serious accidents occur. It will place cameras in up to 10 locations as a proactive measure, Brookens said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This will help the organization make recommendations before the crashes get more severe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To aid in updating the plan, Forward Pinellas has established a task force of \u201cdiverse\u201d community members and stakeholders, including law enforcement officers, trauma center representatives, engineers and other first responders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The group, which will meet for the first time by the end of the year, will come together at least six times throughout the process to provide guidance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to look at it from a safe systems approach,\u201d Brookens explained. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a lot of different views to come up with solutions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Brookens, these efforts are all about saving lives. \u201cOn average, two people are killed or seriously injured on Pinellas County roadways each day,\u201d according to Forward Pinellas data<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The organization will be hosting a Week of Remembrance Nov. 10-14 to honor the lives that have been lost or seriously impacted by roadway crashes in Pinellas. Community members can share their stories here<\/a>, which will potentially be featured on Forward Pinellas\u2019s social media channels.\u00a0<\/p>\n Through its Vision Zero effort, the agency hopes to eliminate all fatal and injury-related crashes in the county by 2045.\u00a0<\/p>\n Forward Pinellas is planning to host community workshops throughout the process to gain insights from the public. Staff will also attend pop-up events to have conversations with community members, Brookens said.\u00a0<\/p>\n