Pedestrian Advocacy
The vision Zero initiative seeks to reduce traffic fatalities to zero in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. The Louisville Metro Council Approved the Vision Zero initiative on June 14, 2022.
Read the WDRB article here.
Watch WDRB news report about Vision Zero here.
Read 89.3 WFPL article here.
Vision Zero facebook page here.
(This speech was given in support of the Vision Zero initiative by Janet Heston to Louisville Metro Council on June 2, 2022.)
Good evening Honorable Council Members,
There are proven measures to take that have worked in other cities and countries to reduce deaths on our streets from 75 to even 100%.
My name is Janet Heston and I am here to convince you to provide funding in the budget to reduce death in our city. As president of Matthew’s Bridge Incorporated 501c3, a partner of Southwest Dream Team, and an active member of the New Cut Taylor Blvd Network, and most importantly as a grieving mother whose son was killed on a Louisville street,
I’m here to encourage you to support writing $500,000 into our city’s budget for traffic calming and safety measures zzon our local streets. The $500,000 will be instrumental in reduction of deaths and crashes. Some of these measures are: restriping roads, installing markers to clearly show where lanes end, where bike/scooter lanes start, and pedestrian boundaries exist, narrowing lanes that are over 10 feet wide, adding medians for safe havens, manipulating timing of lights and crosswalk timers, placing TARC stops near crosswalks in highly visible areas, monitoring speed in high speeding areas, installing barriers, LED lighting, and many more methods that have been proven effective at reducing crashes while increasing mobility efficiency.
These measures were implemented on a notoriously dangerous section of Dixie Hwy. Since the reconfigurations were made, there have been zero pedestrian fatalities on that section of Dixie Hwy.
In addition, I also ask that the city set aside another $500,000 in the budget to go towards matching funds should grants be attained to make changes and to work on small projects on the New Cut Taylor Blvd corridor. This is an economic justice area that has far too long been overlooked and neglected resulting in deaths. The improvement projects will be based on data of valid studies like the New Cut Taylor Blvd corridor study, public works street lighting assessment, and crash/fatality data.
The New Cut Taylor Blvd Corridor study was done over ten years ago. Those suggestions weren’t followed. If recommendations like section 1.4 had been implemented using now proven measures , my son and others who have died there would still be alive. This is as personal as it gets for me.
My son Matthew was killed on a dangerous roadway that should have been reconfigured a decade before his death. The irony that the study refers to a vision 2020 which is the year my son died is haunting. Nine people were hit and killed in Louisville in November of 2020. These deaths have been increasing, not decreasing; and are all preventable.
Former Councilwoman Vickie Welch feels even more passionate about these modifications being made than she did when she had the study done back then as over a thousand people have died. We must be proactive now. We have an unacceptable amount of premature deaths in Louisville. Setting this money aside for necessary modifications to be made is crucial.
Louisville cannot afford to drop the ball again when it comes to road safety especially when this money will go directly to improvements that are proven to prevent loss of lives. Louisville needs to recognize that distracted driving, speeding, and poor road designs are in themselves deadly weapons and take action by adding these items in the budget.
Thank you.