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Hagerstown releases draft Safe Streets for All action plan, aims to reduce serious traffic injuries by 2050
Summary
City staff and consultants presented a draft Safe Streets for All safety action plan that maps a high‑injury network, proposes signal and mid‑block crossing countermeasures, and aims to position the city to compete for federal implementation grants due this summer.
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — City staff presented a draft Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan on April 1 that identifies corridors and countermeasures intended to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries and to position Hagerstown for federal implementation funding.
Jim Bender summarized work with Washington County’s MPO and consultant teams, noting the city received a $160,000 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grant to prepare the plan and that a new round of implementation funding recently opened. “The purpose of the plan is to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2050,” Bender said, noting the goal aligns with state and federal targets.
Data and public input: the team analyzed five years of non‑interstate crash data and received more than 1,900 public survey responses. Staff reported 3,800 non‑interstate crashes from 2019–2023, of which 114 involved a fatality or serious injury. The project produced a “high‑injury network” map; the top corridors identified include Locust Street, Mulberry Street and Antietam Street, among others.
Proposed countermeasures: the draft includes citywide actions (signal timing and signal hardware improvements, enhanced crosswalk markings, speed‑management strategies including temporary speed boards and traffic calming) and corridor‑specific ideas. For Locust and Mulberry, consultants recommended studying whether some signals might be converted to all‑way stops to reduce driver impatience and resulting speed surges; for Antietam, they recommended studying one‑way conversions because of narrow cross‑sections and head‑on collision risk — a recommendation staff said would require further operational analysis because of downstream traffic and parking impacts.
Why it matters: Bender said the plan is required to apply for implementation grants; applications for the current round are due in June. Staff said the draft will be posted for 30 days of public comment beginning April 2, and they plan to return in May with comments and a final recommendation and to ask the council to adopt a resolution committing to the plan and to pursue implementation funds.
Council remarks: councilmembers generally supported the data‑driven approach but urged staff to drill from corridor‑level findings down to specific intersections (nodes) where collisions concentrate, so limited implementation funds address the highest‑impact locations. Bender said that is the next step: use the action plan to identify targeted projects and then seek funding for those projects.
Next steps: the draft will be open for public comment for 30 days. Staff said the MPO has set aside funding for follow‑up studies to refine project scopes and locations, and staff will return with a final plan and resolution in May to enable grant applications ahead of the June deadline.
