Aventura launches Vision Zero planning grant and public engagement to aim for zero traffic deaths by 2030

Aventura’s commission heard a presentation July 1 about the city’s participation in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program—known locally as Vision 0—to produce a safety action plan and pursue implementation funding.

Louis Weinberg, former vice mayor and the grant’s local lead, described the two‑phase grant: a planning and demonstration phase the city is now undertaking and a later implementation phase. He said the initiative follows national guidance and that Aventura’s steering committee and engineers have begun compiling crash data and identifying high‑injury networks.

City and consultant presenters said they had analyzed six years of crash records (2018–2023) and identified about 1,200 crashes per year on average, with a dip in 2020 attributable to the pandemic. Kimley Horn‑prepared heat maps shown during the presentation highlighted clusters on U.S. 1, near Aventura Mall, along Country Club Drive and around the mall and schools. Ian Reardon of Kimley Horn summarized that there were 102 severe injury crashes in the six‑year window and three fatal crashes, two of which occurred in 2023.

The Vision 0 effort will produce an action plan with a high‑injury network, targeted infrastructure and operational changes, behavioral outreach, and performance indicators; the city intends to launch interactive maps and surveys on the city website so residents can comment on intersections and safety priorities. Presenters said the local steering committee includes former officials, residents affected by traffic fatalities, condo and business representatives, police liaisons and engineers; Jake Gosselman, the city’s public works director, is handling implementation planning.

Commissioners asked about outreach and data transparency. Presenters said staff will coordinate with city communications to publicize the online maps and survey and that the team is holding public display materials in the meeting lobby during the hearing for residents to review and complete the survey in person. The project timeline calls for a draft action plan to be finalized around January and returned to the commission before submission to federal authorities for implementation funding.

The presentation emphasized the city target to reduce traffic fatalities to zero by 2030 and said the county’s larger Vision Zero action plan—funded with a $16 million award—identifies municipal priorities such as crosswalk and lighting improvements and stop‑control changes along Country Club Drive that Aventura will coordinate with as it prepares its local plan.