City of Philadelphia's Vision Zero project expands to Delco
CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- The city of Philadelphia is on a mission to bring traffic deaths down to zero by the year 2030. The name of the project is Vision Zero and now it's expanding to the western suburbs.
Shirley Reed gets around a lot on foot. She lives within walking distance of a Dollar General on Edgmont Avenue in Chester.
She said she feels so unsafe crossing this street that sometimes she drives to the store instead.
"The cars run straight through the light and when they run through the light, seniors can actually get hit," Reed said.
She brought her concerns to a meeting on Wednesday at the Chester Senior Center. Residents came with a wide variety of concerns, including speeding and drivers rolling through stop signs.
Some folks even used a map to show specific areas they're worried about.
"The bicycles, the road rage we're experiencing in the city, the speeding," Janice Green said.
As part of its Vision Zero project, the Delaware County Planning Department is doing a study to determine the most dangerous roads. They already have an idea which ones they are.
"291, 95, you know, a lot of the roads you would expect," Gina Burritt, director of Delaware County Planning Department said. "Baltimore Pike can also have a history of crashes."
Officials presented this map showing that most fatal and serious injury crashes are in southern and eastern Delaware County. The most, according to PennDOT, are in Chester which had 403 last year.
"We have to be very careful," Green said. "We love our children in the city of Chester."
The planning department will use resident feedback to write an analysis with recommendations for safer streets and then provide the plan to all 49 municipalities in Delaware County.
The plan will allow local governments and PennDOT to become eligible for federal funding to make safety enhancements.
"I think it would be better, probably cause less accidents," Reed said.
The plan is expected to be complete by August 2024.
