Planning commission recommends Spring Hill adopt Safe Streets for All safety action plan

The Spring Hill Planning Commission on June 5 recommended that the City Council adopt the city’s draft Safe Streets for All comprehensive safety action plan and authorized staff to submit an implementation grant application identifying seven project areas.

The plan, prepared with consultant HDR and led in Spring Hill by City Engineer Allison Abel, responds to 379 documented crashes in the Spring Hill area between 2014 and 2023, including eight fatal crashes and 42 serious‑injury crashes. Jay Aber, HDR project manager, told the commission the analysis and public engagement show a concentrated pattern: roughly 25% of corridors carry about 80% of the fatal and serious‑injury crashes.

The plan was funded 80% by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Safe Streets for All discretionary grant program, with the city covering an expected 20% local match; Abel told commissioners the study cost about $250,000 and Spring Hill’s local out‑of‑pocket for the study was about $12,500 after matching funds from the Kansas Infrastructure Hub.

Aber summarized the plan’s purpose: "This plan was set up to guide the next 20 years of work in the community for safety," and described a "safe system" approach that pairs engineering countermeasures, enforcement and post‑crash care to reduce deaths and serious injuries. The plan identifies 25 projects covering about 17 miles of city roadway and roughly 130 miles of total improvements across jurisdictions; projects are grouped by agency responsibility — city, county and KDOT — because the city does not control all affected roads.

Recommended countermeasures include roundabouts, sidewalks and access management. Aber said priorities include 220 Third Street from U.S. 169 to Woodland Road and segments of Ridgeview Road. Short‑term actions listed in the plan include pursuing an implementation grant, adopting a Vision Zero resolution, establishing a transportation safety board to oversee implementation and increasing targeted speed enforcement in coordination with the Spring Hill Police Department.

Commissioners asked for detail on vehicle types and comparisons to peer communities. Aber said state crash data do not provide detailed vehicle make/model breakdowns but mark commercial vehicles separately; commercial vehicles comprised a very small share of the crashes in Spring Hill. He also said Spring Hill’s fatal‑crash rate is at the lower end among comparable communities, noting the city has seen decreases in serious crashes while many places are increasing.

The commission motioned to recommend adoption of the SS4A comprehensive safety action plan as presented; the motion was seconded and passed 7‑0. Commissioners directed staff to incorporate one requested edit — add Webster Street realignment study language to the plan — before it goes to the council for formal adoption and to proceed with the grant submission deadline later this month.

The plan’s authors and staff said the document is intended as a living framework: short‑term items for the next two to three years, medium actions for roughly a decade and a longer 20‑year horizon for major reconstruction. The commission heard repeated public and staff emphasis on sidewalks and pedestrian connectivity as frequent priorities in public outreach.