Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Select Board hears Vision Zero update; committee to return with ranked list of streets and draft action plan
Summary
Brookline’s Vision Zero Study Committee presented its draft action plan and a high-priority network based on five years of crash data; staff said adoption would make the town eligible for federal Safe Streets for All grants and the committee will return with a ranked list for implementation planning.
The Town of Brookline’s Vision Zero Study Committee presented a progress update to the Select Board on March 5, summarizing a year-long public engagement process and a data-driven list of streets where safety improvements could have the greatest impact.
Sam Downs, a transportation engineer in the town’s Engineering and Transportation Department, told the board the committee — first appointed in April 2022 — has convened widely with the public and a consultant firm to produce an action plan designed to reduce traffic fatalities and severe injuries to zero while improving equitable, healthy mobility for people walking, biking and driving.
Nut graf: The committee’s work combines a Safe Systems approach and five years of crash data to form a “high priority network” of streets where design and enforcement changes could cut severe crashes. Adoption of the plan would make Brookline eligible for grant programs such as Safe Streets for All; staff said the finalized action plan and a ranked list of priority streets will be delivered to the Select Board this spring.
Downs said speed reduction and lane design are central to the strategy. Town staff highlighted that Brookline designated more than 300 local roads as 20-mph safety zones and emphasized research showing crash severity rises sharply with speed. The committee’s consultant reviewed crash records from February 2019 through February 2023 and compiled a 30‑street priority network where interventions should be focused, Downs said.
The committee is weighing design tools that reduce speeds without relying solely on speed bumps — for example, narrowing travel lanes, adding bike lanes, building chicanes and improving crosswalk visibility. Downs said narrowing a lane visually can reduce vehicle speeds without heavy infrastructure and could be used where pavement work or repaving is planned.
Select Board members asked about grant eligibility, whether adoption would constrain local discretion like some state Department of Transportation-funded projects and the timetable for publishing ranked priorities. Downs said becoming a Vision Zero community would make Brookline eligible for the federal Safe Streets for All grant program, which has funded multi‑million-dollar projects elsewhere, and that the action plan provides a playbook with flexible strategies rather than one mandatory design. He said the board could expect a finalized action plan and a numerical ranking of the 30 highest‑priority streets when the committee returns in April or May.
Ending: The Select Board did not vote to adopt the action plan at the March 5 session; Downs said the committee will return soon with a finalized action plan and a proposed adoption resolution for board consideration.
