The City of Erie has launched a comprehensive safety action plan aimed at reducing fatal and serious injury crashes in the area, targeting vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.
From 2019 to 2023, Erie experienced 34 fatalities and 166 suspected serious injuries due to traffic crashes. In response, the city developed an 83-page plan to address these issues and applied for a $20 million “Safe Streets and Roads for All” implementation grant to support immediate action.
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“We’re trying to implement multimodal usage taking into account the pedestrian, the cyclist, and even the e-bikes,” said Jackie Spry, Director of Planning and Neighborhood Resources for the City of Erie.
“The safety action plan primarily focuses on those high injury networks … 26th Street, 12th Street, 6th Street,” Spry added.
Mike Jaruszewicz, Executive Vice President of the United Way of Erie County, emphasized the importance of student safety, stating, “Because of limited state funding for busing, we as a community need to work to help ensure those students get to school safely.”
The safety action plan was completed at the beginning of the year after a series of comprehensive studies and crash analyses, as well as public engagement.
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One of the public’s biggest concerns is aggressive and distracted driving, which the plan aims to address.
The city has partnered with the United Way of Erie County to enhance the safety of school students, focusing on improving walking safety for students.
The United Way is also involved in the Erie County Long Range Transportation Plan, collaborating with government and community partners to ensure a continued focus on student safety improvements.
The City of Erie is committed to achieving a Vision Zero goal, aiming for no fatalities by 2035, as part of its broader efforts to create safer streets for all residents.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WJET/WFXP. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WJET/WFXP staff before being published.