Matthews staff present Vision Zero action plan after review of 2018–2023 crash data

Dana Stuchenke, senior transportation planner for the Town of Matthews, presented the town’s Vision Zero Action Plan during a staff briefing, saying staff analyzed crash records from 2018 through 2023 and identified 7,500 crashes, 19 deaths and 16 serious injuries.

Stuchenke said the plan uses a “safe systems” approach that accepts that “people make mistakes and that not all crashes can be prevented,” and focuses on reducing harm to vulnerable road users.

“We found that 7,500 crashes happened in Matthews in that timeframe. 19 people were killed. 16 people were seriously injured,” Stuchenke said. Staff mapped those incidents and created a high-injury network to target policies and funding toward corridors with concentrated serious injuries and deaths.

The plan’s recommended actions are organized into five categories: evaluation, engineering, enforcement, education and equity. Stuchenke said the high-injury network and the analysis will be used to inform policy choices and funding decisions. She noted the full action-item list is posted online and available for review.

Stuchenke described the public and interdepartmental engagement used to craft the plan: displays and pledge collection at the Matthews Alive Festival; an internal charrette with planning, engineering, public works and police administration; and a multi-stakeholder task force that met several times to refine recommendations. She invited feedback from the public by email.

Staff said they will keep the Vision Zero Action Plan before the Town Board for review and possible action in March; no formal board vote or ordinance was recorded during the presentation.