LAWRENCE, Kan. — The City of Lawrence kicked off the second phase of their Vision Zero project on Wednesday. The public forum described how they’re approaching the project, and what data is fueling the change in the town.
“People want to be able to walk, whether that’s in their neighborhood or to the convenience store or to the grocery store,” said Jessica Mortinger.
She’s the Transportation Planning Manager with the Lawrence Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
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“They want to be able to cross streets even if they’re high volume or higher speed, and they want to be able to do so comfortably.”
The project aims to reduce fatal traffic accidents to zero by changing roadways and adding specific technology.
“That can look like a lot of different things across the community,” said Mortinger. “Of course, the most common one that I think residents want to talk to us about is built environment improvement.”
That could look like changes from intersections to roundabouts, the addition of bike lanes, bump outs, or more pedestrian friendly crosswalks.
Mortinger said that since the city has so many pedestrians and cyclists, the changes are crucial.
“The residents have a high expectation about the idea that they want to be able to get out and walk to a destination and they want to do so safely, whether that’s for recreation or transportation,” she said.
“Whether they’re trying to walk a child to school or to college and walking to campus, or somebody who even visits our downtown and wants to get around safely on foot or by bike.”
The first of several public forums was held Wednesday night at the Carnegie Building. While some residents are welcoming the change, some, like Graham Bailey, says that the reduction of accidents will come from both motorists, pedestrians and cyclists following the rules of the road.
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“A lot of accidents happen because people on bicycles go through red lights,” he said. “They do not pay attention to the laws and when you’re on the streets you must obey the laws.”
He added that the safety measures would make a difference but to get to zero, everyone has to pay attention.
“I’d like to see more bike lanes, but when you’re on a bicycle on a city street, you must obey the traffic laws. And cars need to respect bicycles as a participant in the lane.”
The city expects the final draft of the plan to be ready in the early part of 2025.
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