ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Streets in Allentown could undergo significant changes in the coming years as the city works to reduce deaths and severe injuries caused by traffic crashes.
Allentown City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a $312,000 contract with Michael Baker International to develop an “all-encompassing” action plan for safe streets and roads throughout the city.
That plan will help the city as it “embark(s) on a transformative journey” to redesign its roadways to make them safe for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.
Allentown’s Safe Streets and Roads for All action plan will help inform a “Vision Zero” strategy.
The Vision Zero plan outlines “a path to zero fatalities and zero serious injuries on our roads by 2030,” Mayor Matt Tuerk said Jan. 11 at his 2024 State of the City address.
“That is simply too many."Mayor Matt Tuerk, speaking about the eight traffic-related deaths in Allentown last year
City officials are set to hold nine community meetings this year to solicit input from residents, business owners and others as they develop the plans, Allentown Public Works Director Mark Shahda said Wednesday.
The Vision Zero plan is “really going to be based off of public input,” Shahda said. “Anything that we gather from these public meetings will be considered for implementation.”
'Simply too many' deaths
Michael Baker International, an engineering consulting firm, will provide up to 10 conceptual traffic designs, including roundabouts and raised crosswalks, to bolster safety, officials said.
Tuerk said his administration also will look at “tightening up travel lanes and lowering speed limits across the city.
“A combination of enforcement, education and design will make our residents and our businesses and visitors safer as they move through Allentown,” he said last week.
Council also on Wednesday introduced a resolution in support of the Vision Zero plan, a “holistic strategy aimed at eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries.”
“Vision Zero recognizes that people will sometimes make mistakes, so road systems and related policies should be designed to ensure that those inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities,” the resolution states.
There were more than 3,500 traffic crashes in Allentown in 2022, with 59 serious injuries and 10 deaths, according to the resolution. Pedestrians were involved in 141 crashes that year; 13 were seriously injured and five died, the resolution states.
Eight people were killed in traffic crashes in Allentown last year, when more than 60 serious injuries were reported, Tuerk said last week. Four pedestrians were also killed in 2023.
“That is simply too many,” Tuerk said.
