Title
Roadway Safety (30 minutes)
Dale McKeel, LPA Staff
Brian Mayhew, NCDOT
Brian Murphy, NCDOT
Narrative
The MPO Board adopted targets for safety performance measures at the January 2022 meeting. Staff recommended and the MPO Board adopted targets that were developed by NCDOT, which allows the MPO to use the NCDOT methodology and data for on-going monitoring. The safety performance targets were also incorporated into the adopted 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP).
Prior to adopting the targets the MPO Board received a letter jointly signed by several organizations expressing concerns about rising rates of injuries and deaths on our streets and roadways, and requesting that the MPO Board work with staff, local jurisdictions, and NCDOT to take immediate steps to evaluate why our efforts to improve safety are not working and to chart a path forward that prevents the fatalities and serious injuries that are occurring on our transportation network. Similar public comments were made at the January meeting.
North Carolina is a Vision Zero state and in 2014 set a goal to cut fatalities and serious injuries in the state in half by the year 2030. The 2019 North Carolina Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) serves as a roadmap for Federal, State, local, and other agencies who strive to reduce all crashes, serious injuries, and fatalities on North Carolina roadways. More recently, in February 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation released the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) intended to significantly reduce serious injuries and deaths on our Nation’s highways, roads, and streets.
This item will begin the discussion of what is currently being done and what more can be done in terms of funding, projects, coordination, and monitoring to address rising rates of injuries and deaths on our streets and roadways.
Board Action
Board Action: Receive the Roadway Safety Presentation.