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Select Board adopts Vision Zero resolution; town to pursue federal Safe Streets grants and shift oversight to Transportation Board
Summary
The Select Board adopted a Vision Zero resolution committing to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on Brookline streets (goal year 2050), endorsed a Vision Zero action plan, and agreed to transfer committee oversight to the Transportation Board; staff said the town will apply for federal Safe Streets for All funding of about $6 million.
The Brookline Select Board voted to adopt a Vision Zero commitment and action plan at its June 24 meeting, formalizing a town goal of eliminating deaths and serious injuries on the town’s streets by 2050, and transferring ongoing oversight and progress reporting responsibilities to the Transportation Board.
Dan Murphy, director of engineering and transportation, and Amy Ingalls, project lead, presented the Vision Zero Action Plan, which includes a “high‑priority network” of streets where 85% of injury crashes from 2019–2023 occurred, a safety toolbox of infrastructure and policy interventions (signal work, reflective backplates, pedestrian bump‑outs, protected bicycle facilities, and targeted enforcement), and a monitoring plan. Staff said the plan would be used to support applications for federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grants; the administration told the board it is submitting an application for roughly $6 million to install signal upgrades, reflective backplates at signalized intersections, and larger intersection redesigns at three high‑crash locations, plus programmatic elements such as a signal‑policy study.
The board’s discussion ranged widely, with members asking for details about the town’s traffic‑calming program, the spacing and scope of speed humps being proposed on several neighborhood streets, how emergency response vehicles would be affected, and how residents can appeal Transportation Board decisions. Transportation staff said speed humps are typically spaced on the order of several hundred feet depending on local conditions and that emergency services review candidate streets before installation. Staff also said the Safe Streets grant application was near completion and that projects would include public engagement before final design and implementation.
The board approved the resolution after questions and comments. The resolution also dissolves the ad hoc Vision Zero committee and assigns implementation oversight and progress reporting to the Transportation Board; town staff said the board will track crashes and monitor results to inform future investments.
