photo by: City of Lawrence

A temporary traffic installation at the intersection of 13th and Connecticut streets demonstrates a potential design for a bicycle boulevard.

The Lawrence City Commission voted Tuesday night to approve a Vision Zero Transportation Safety Action Plan and to adopt a resolution that will set strategies to reach zero fatalities and serious injuries from transportation accidents by 2050.

For Jessica Mortinger, a transportation planning manager with the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization, it meant a lot for the city to approve the plan. But it is not a victory lap, she said, just a starting line.

“The work starts here, really,” Mortinger said.

The Vision Zero plan was developed throughout 2024, with stakeholders from Lawrence, Eudora and Baldwin City meeting as a steering committee to come up with a master plan for road safety with the aim of reducing fatal or serious injury crashes, as the Journal-World reported.

City of Lawrence roadways had 13 traffic-related fatalities from 2018 to 2022, according to a city memo. The adoption of the Vision Zero plan will help Mortinger’s team start getting to the next steps, including implementing more strategies to improve road safety.

Part of the Vision Zero plan was analyzing data to find certain corridors that had a disproportionate rate of injuries and fatalities. In Lawrence, the analysis found that 65% of the fatal or serious injury crashes occurred on 6.5% of the city’s streets. Mortinger said the city identified what it called a “High Injury Network Box,” which was outlined by Iowa Street, Sixth Street, Massachusetts Street and 23rd Street. Other areas that saw more frequent crashes were “Campus Border Corridors,” areas around the University of Kansas like Ninth Street, Tennessee Street and Kentucky Street.

By identifying those key corridors, Mortinger said the plan would help prioritize projects along those streets for funding opportunities. The types of safety measures the city could implement include adding more lighting and visibility along some streets, adding traffic calming measures or giving pedestrian signals a head start compared to cars at certain traffic lights, a strategy known as Leading Pedestrian Intervals. The Campus Border Corridors specifically may feature more projects that aim to create a friendly environment for pedestrians and cyclists.

photo by: City of Lawrence

A map from the city of Lawrence identifying what it called the “High-injury network box.” The outlined streets are where nearly a third of all fatal or serious injury crashes occur.

Along with the adoption of the Vision Zero plan, the City Commission approved the application for a Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, which is awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The city is seeking $320,000 in grants which would go to road safety audits or corridor studies along sections of 23rd Street and Sixth Street.

Mortinger said the adoption of the plan will help the city see fewer dangerous crashes along its roadways.

“This is going to make things safer for all forms of transportation in Lawrence,” Mortinger said.