Transportation advocates are disappointed that Syracuse Common Councilors won’t vote on whether to support the concept of a plan that would keep streets safe.
Municipal legislatures across the country have approved the idea of Vision Zero cities, which involves the creation of a comprehensive plan to prevent serious traffic injuries and fatalities. A plan for Syracuse was completed earlier this year by the Walsh administration, setting a goal of no fatal or serious injury crashes by 2055 through a combination of efforts, including lower speed limits.
At a public meeting earlier this year, lawmakers expressed concerns over moving ahead with the plan, and now that it was pulled from the most recent agenda, there will be no vote.
Alex Lawson of the Moving People Transportation Coalition is disappointed, saying one potential downside of the inaction is that it will be harder for the city to apply for federal grants to help pay for some of the initiatives.
“In order to do that, you have the application process; they put weight on whether or not the municipality's legislative body has adopted the plan,” Lawson said. “So that's the point of asking about it. And to say no is like, okay, well, that grant program now might be a little bit harder, the application, whatever.”
Lawson admits that some of the initiatives can be brought to lawmakers individually.
“The administration can't lower the speed limit on their own. The council would have to do that,” he said. “And so it is concerning that there is this rift between the two bodies when we're talking about trying to get the stuff across the finish line because they're going to have to work together.”
Lawson said it’s an issue for him, as an avid bike rider, that makes sense.
“Three people were killed by cars in Syracuse in July,” he said. “A 7-year-old boy was hit, and he's thankfully not going to die, but he was in critical condition in the hospital, hit by a car. You know, this is something that happens all the time, and I support any effort to make the streets safer.”
City officials say they will continue to attempt to engage with lawmakers and keep them informed regarding the plan.
