Lebanon adopts Safe Streets plan after yearlong review of crash data and community input
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Summary
The Lebanon City Council unanimously adopted the Lebanon Safe Streets initiative, a year-long safety action plan that identifies priority locations, policy changes and funding strategies to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
Lebanon City Council on April 20 adopted the Lebanon Safe Streets initiative, a safety action plan prepared by outside traffic consultants to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries in the city.
The plan — which consultants said was developed after nine months of analysis, public surveys and stakeholder meetings — maps recent crash locations, prioritizes intersections and corridor improvements and recommends funding sources for design and construction. Ed, a consultant with TEC, told the council the plan is aimed at “increasing safety for all roadway users” and supports a long-term goal of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
The nut of the consultants’ work was a crash analysis that used five years of reported collisions. The presentation included a heat map of injury crashes and an inventory of high-priority spots and segments; the consultants said the map showed roughly 426 injury crashes over five years and that pedestrian crashes were concentrated in the downtown grid. The study team also said Lebanon had an unusually high share of motorcycle crashes compared with national norms and recommended that motorcycles be treated as a distinct “vulnerable road user” group in future analyses.
Consultants described engineering recommendations such as turn-lane extensions and signal upgrades at high-speed intersections (including Bypass 48 and Miller Road), low-cost corridor treatments along Bypass 48 and Main Street and targeted downtown changes to address confusing stop/priority signs. The plan also recommends continuing counts that include pedestrians and bicyclists, sustaining the task force, and using the report to pursue federal and state safety grants, including Highway Safety Improvement Program and INFRA/implementation grants.
Public comment at the meeting echoed concerns raised in the study. Rob Marshall, a Lebanon resident who rides his bicycle through downtown, told council members drivers routinely ignore activated pedestrian crosswalk lights and urged the city to consider stronger treatments such as beacons or signalized crossings. Councilmembers and consultants discussed options used elsewhere, including HAWK-style beacons and textured or colored pavement to discourage lane misuse.
Councilmembers asked about measurable results. The consultants said many recommended countermeasures have published crash-modification factors — for example, restriping or lane-narrowing treatments that have been associated with crash reductions in the range of about 20% for certain crash types — and larger changes such as roundabouts typically reduce severe angle and head-on collisions.
After discussion the council moved to adopt the resolution and approved it by roll call. The motion passed with all voting members recorded as "Yes."
