Sterling Heights unveils Vision Zero safety plan, outlines Ryan Road changes and citywide traffic-calming pilot

Sterling Heights officials presented a comprehensive transportation safety action plan to the City Council on March 17, detailing neighborhood traffic-calming pilots, a proposed multi-segment redesign of Ryan Road and near-term grant applications aimed at reducing serious and fatal crashes.

The plan, completed by consultant Hobelroth & Clark with local task-force input, adopts a “safe system” approach and sets a long-term target of eliminating serious and fatal roadway crashes by 2050. City Manager Mark Vanderpool and City Engineer Brent Bayshaw told the council the initiative is data driven, targets intersections and high-crash segments the city controls, and integrates engineering, enforcement and public engagement.

The plan grew out of a $500,000 Safe Streets for All grant used to complete the study, Vanderpool said. Consultant Leah Michaels told the council the study’s public outreach gathered more than 560 citywide safety comments and about 330 mapped location‑specific responses; a separate Ryan Road visioning survey drew 33 responses. Citywide crash data reviewed in the plan show roughly 4,200 crashes per year across Sterling Heights, with an average of just over six fatalities and about 34 serious injuries annually.

Ryan Road was identified as a high-crash corridor. The study found, on average, more than 200 crashes per year on the corridor, about 0.8 fatalities per year and roughly 2.5 serious injuries per year over the five‑year review. The task force proposed cross‑section changes that vary by segment: south of 18 Mile Road, a boulevard with two…