DuPage County adopts safety action plan, seeks federal grants and sets 2% annual reduction goal for fatal and serious crashes

DuPage County officials on Tuesday adopted a countywide Safety Action Plan intended to guide local agencies on engineering, enforcement and education measures and to help communities apply for federal safety grants.

The plan, presented by a DuPage County transportation staff member, identifies a countywide “high injury network,” documents trends in fatal and serious-injury crashes and recommends a pragmatic 2% annual reduction in fatal and injury-A crashes. “We’re recommending a pragmatic 2% annual reduction in K and A, that’s fatal in injury A,” the transportation staff member said during the presentation.

The plan matters because it makes municipalities, townships and other transportation agencies in the county eligible to use the document as the basis for applications to federal programs such as the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and other U.S. Department of Transportation funding opportunities. The presenter told the board that local agencies can use the plan for grant applications and for HSIP or Surface Transportation Program (STP) projects through regional partners.

In the presentation, staff said DuPage faces opposing trends: a roughly 50% increase in fatal crashes over the past decade (2008 to present) while injury-A (hospitalization) crashes have declined about 50%. The plan highlights an average of eight to 10 pedestrian fatalities per year and notes that arterials — while about 13% of the county highway system — account for about 58% of fatal and injury-A crashes. Staff described pedestrian mortality as especially high, saying a pedestrian’s chance of mortality is around 20% in a severe crash versus about 5% for bicyclists, and said the plan’s data set covers 2018–2022.

Staff described two classes of countermeasures in the plan: systemic measures deployable broadly across a network and project-level solutions for specific locations or corridors. Examples cited to the board included flashing yellow arrow phasing proposed for a 60 Third Street HSIP application and geometric intersection improvements completed on other corridors. The plan also emphasizes partnerships with municipal police, the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference (DMMC), the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), health departments and nontraditional partners for education and enforcement.

Presenters said some enforcement tools, notably automated speed enforcement, remain an authority of the State of Illinois and are not available to counties at this time. Staff recommended disseminating the plan to DMMC and municipal partners, integrating its recommendations into an active transportation plan and updating the county’s Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) to reflect new projects. Staff also said the county plans to pursue a HSIP grant this year for the 60 Third Street corridor.

Board members and staff discussed project prioritization and implementation challenges. One board member asked whether the county has a system to prioritize projects; staff said fatality and severe-injury counts are a principal component and that some projects follow a faster “signage/striping” track while larger geometric improvements follow engineering phases. Another board member noted enforcement and behavioral change, saying many crashes involving vulnerable users occur at dawn and dusk and that addressing behavior and enforcement will be a large lift for municipalities and police departments.

The board voted to adopt the DuPage County Safety Action Plan (resolution DTR 002025). The motion was moved and seconded on the record; during the roll call vote the chair said, “All in favor. Aye.” The transcript did not list individual yes/no votes.

Staff noted the county has pursued safety funding in recent years, reporting about $50 million secured over the last 10 years for safety work. The presenter encouraged local agencies to use the plan to bolster competitive grant applications and to coordinate through DMMC and regional partners for technical assistance and application support.

The plan’s next steps, as presented to the board, include distributing the plan to municipal partners, pursuing HSIP funding for specified corridors, integrating its guidance into an active transportation plan and updating the LRTP in the coming year.