Sacramento Could Approve Improved Bike Lanes in 2019

A new report on traffic safety in Sacramento has got a lot of lawmakers talking about possible ways to improve public safety. Officials in California’s capital say they are particularly concerned about the high number of cyclist and pedestrian fatalities.

Sacramento’s Vision Zero program put together all of the data in this new study. Vision Zero is a Swedish-based company that works with various cities to bring traffic fatalities down within a specified amount of years.

According to the data, most of the pedestrians who were hurt or killed in traffic accidents were 60-years-old or older. Another important finding was that 85 percent of car crashes involving cyclists in Sacramento were in areas where the speed limit was at or over 30 mph.

Researchers involved in this study also looked at the circumstances of over 150 traffic fatalities in Sacramento. Surprisingly, they found that almost 80 percent of all these accidents happened on only 15 percent of Sacramento’s streets.

The areas with the most serious accidents include District 4 and District 6. Sacramento’s downtown area also performed poorly.

Lawmakers are now suggesting many projects to increase safety on Sacramento’s roads. One of the main proposals is to create buffers between bike lanes and major roads.  A few other ideas include putting up sensors that would be able to scan for pedestrians, re-vamping parking policies, and changing speed limits.

If all goes according to plan, lawmakers could have an official list of traffic safety proposals ready for approval by 2019. A few of the roads lawmakers are particularly concerned about include Florin Road, Broadway, and Marysville Road.

Anyone can read more about this study and Vision Zero’s other Sacramento initiatives on this official website.