West Sacramento council adopts Vision Zero action plan aiming to halve severe crashes by 2035, sets aspiration of zero deaths by 2050

The West Sacramento City Council on Sept. 15 adopted the Vision Zero Action Plan, a traffic-safety blueprint that sets a city commitment to reduce fatal and serious-injury (FSI) crashes by 50% per 100,000 residents by 2035 and to pursue an aspirational goal of zero deaths by 2050.

The plan, developed with a Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant and community engagement, directs a multi-pronged “safe systems” approach including engineering, speed management, enforcement guidance, education, and annual accountability reporting. “The City of West Sacramento is committed to a 50% reduction in the number of FSI crashes per 100,000 residents by 2035, with the eventual goal of 0 in 2050,” said Stephanie Chan, senior transportation planner for the city, during the council presentation.

City and consultant staff told the council the plan is data-driven: an analysis of 2017–2023 crash data identified high-injury locations that account for roughly 70% of FSI crashes while representing only about 3.5% of city streets. The plan prioritizes 18 corridors for safety work, lists six near-term priority projects and recommends 53 actions grouped under five goals: design safer streets, implement safe speeds, prioritize vulnerable road users, encourage safe road-user behavior, and create a culture of safety.

Priority projects cited by staff include safety-focused revisions to the Southport Parkway corridor, quick-build intersection and crosswalk improvements, a protected intersection redesign at Jefferson Boulevard and Linden Road, reinstatement of a neighborhood traffic-calming program (with Marshall Road noted as an early focus), daylighting of crosswalks consistent with state law (Assembly Bill 413), and formal guidance for wider application of “no right turn on red” restrictions where crash data supports them. Staff also recommended monitoring statewide automated enforcement pilots before pursuing local automated speed enforcement, noting pilot programs underway in other cities.

The plan reflects extensive community outreach: city staff and Civic Thread ran about 20 engagement events, created a community advisory group (CAG) and convened an internal project development team. David Moore, who said he previously worked with Civic Thread, praised staff and consultants for prioritizing equity in outreach and urged council to prioritize implementation rather than leave the plan as a document. “Please prioritize implementation,” Moore said.

A resident, Veronica Vallejo Dodd, told the council she had lost two relatives in a recent collision on Jefferson Boulevard and urged the city to accelerate bicycle and pedestrian improvements on the south end of Jefferson. “The girls didn’t deserve what happened to them. Please act now,” she said during public comment.

Council voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 25-96. Councilmembers recorded their votes in a roll call: Ocala — Aye; Early — Aye; Orozco — Aye; Mayor Pro Tem Solpezio Hall — Aye; Mayor Guerrero — Aye.

Ending

The adopted plan calls for an annual report tracking FSI crashes, progress on priority projects and updates to the high-injury-location network so staff and the public can monitor results. Council and staff said the next step will be to program specific design projects and funding requests tied to the priority corridors and to return to council with implementation schedules and regular status updates.