Wiki Wednesday: “Shovel-Ready” Pedestrian Safety Plans?

3:36 PM PST on January 7, 2009

StreetsWiki author Andy Hamilton files this entry on an idea from our very own Federal Highway Administration: the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan.

Theconcept includes a step by step methodology to identify and correctpedestrian safety hazards, as well as to plan a more walkable communityfrom the ground up. FHWA developed a how-to guide, and contracted withpedestrian design experts to provide 2-day or 3-day trainings to stateand local transportation departments around the country. This federaleffort was initiated when it was recognized that most traffic engineersreceive inadequate professional training to effectively addresspedestrian safety concerns.
From 2005 to 2007, FHWAconducted 77 trainings in the 14 states that ranked highest inpedestrian crashes. In some states, the trainings resulted in almostimmediate pedestrian safety improvement projects or evaluation efforts.
Implementing a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan is not usually a highpriority for traffic engineering departments, and require consistentadvocacy from neighborhood organizations or elected officials.

Here's
something to chew on. These trainings began more than three years ago
and have probably led to the creation of some actual safety plans,
which can get off the ground quickly. Shouldn't a federal stimulus
package fully fund all of these projects before giving highway-addled states like Texas a dime for anything else?

Ben Fried

Ben Fried started as a Streetsblog reporter in 2008 and led the site as editor-in-chief from 2010 to 2018. He lives in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his wife.

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