LOWER MERION \u2014 Lower Merion commissioners recently set a goal of reducing roadway fatalities and serious injuries by 50% over the next five years with the ultimate objective of eliminating them altogether.<\/p>\n
The goal was part of a resolution to implement the township\u2019s new Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.<\/p>\n
During a recent committee meeting, Jesse Hunting, assistant director of public works for Lower Merion, outlined the reasons for the new plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cAssembling the plan was a necessary first step to become eligible to apply for the Department of Transportation\u2019s Safe Streets for All Implementation Grant, and this would be for the 2025 implementation grant and so for this year in this program and so for this year in this program there the DOT is going to be awarding 40 to 70 grants each up to $25 million to municipalities across the US and these grants are intended to fund a variety of transportation-based safety improvement projects,\u201d Hunting said as he addressed the committee.<\/p>\n
Hunting said there\u2019s a wide variety of projects the grants fund, including pedestrian safety, enhancements such as new sidewalks and crosswalks, intersection improvements, and dedicated turning lanes. Additionally, safe routes to school include dedicated walking routes for parents and students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan makes a commitment to prioritize roadway safety by setting a goal of reducing serious traffic-related injuries and deaths by 50% by the year 2030 with the ultimate goal of eliminating these incidents altogether,\u201d Hunting said.<\/p>\n
Hunting said the plan also quantifies the number of fatalities and injuries within the township and then maps the data to help the township prioritize a list of projects that can be brought forward for funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis comprehensive safety plan highlights the township\u2019s history of safety-focused planning and project development and should put us in a good position to compete for these dollars,\u201d Hunting said.<\/p>\n
The 41-page comprehensive safety plan is available on the township\u2019s website at www.lowermerion.org\/government\/about-lower-merion\/township-meeting-calendar under the June 4 Lower Merion Public Works Committee agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will pursue this goal through a performance-based, five-year planning cycle that aligns with our Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), ensuring data-informed investments and accountability,\u201d according to a portion of the safety plan. \u201cOur approach is rooted in the Safe System principles\u2014 recognizing that human mistakes are inevitable, but that serious consequences are not. We commit to creating a system that protects human life by designing safer roads, promoting responsible behavior, supporting speed management, improving vehicle safety, and ensuring rapid emergency response.<\/p>\n
We recognize that transforming our transportation system won\u2019t happen overnight\u2014 but every policy change, infrastructure project, and community conversation brings us one step closer. Our success will come from staying the course, measuring our progress, and never losing sight of our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally Published: June 16, 2025 at 7:44 AM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOWER MERION \u2014 Lower Merion commissioners recently set a goal of reducing roadway fatalities and serious injuries by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[182,183,185,184,186,139,28],"class_list":["post-2519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-local-news","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}