Jackson and Teton County adopt Safe Streets for All safety action plan

Jackson and Teton County officials unanimously adopted the Safe Streets for All comprehensive safety action plan on June 2, 2025, a data-driven document designed to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries and to position the jurisdictions for future implementation funding.

Pathways Coordinator Brian Schilling, who led the presentation, told the joint meeting that “the town and county were awarded $600,000, through the federal Safe Streets for All program” to develop the plan and that the document’s primary aim is “preventing roadway deaths and serious injuries.” He described the plan as a data-driven analysis that identifies a high-injury network, crash types and recommended safety countermeasures for both corridors and specific intersections.

The plan, Schilling said, includes an updated community streets (mobility) framework and a transportation engineering design standards manual for later use: “The comprehensive safety action plan is sort of the main document from this whole effort. It identifies those projects and policies to improve safety,” he said, while adding that the plan “is not a CIP” and does not set a schedule for implementation.

Council and commission discussion focused on feasibility of recommended countermeasures, how the plan will be used to seek implementation grants and whether the work sufficiently covers the county’s smaller communities. Commissioner/commenters pressed staff about elements such as rumble strips, leading pedestrian intervals and whether certain villages (for example, Hoback) appeared on the high-injury network. Schilling and Transportation Manager Charlotte Frey said many of the highest-severity crashes were concentrated on state highways and that the plan also documents town- and county-owned roads so staff can identify opportunities when reconstruction or maintenance creates an opening to implement countermeasures.

Public commenters who participated in the project steering committee and engagement process urged adoption. Sam Petrie of Friends of Pathways said he “fully support[ed] the Safe Streets for All Safety action plan,” and called the presentation and community engagement “very well run.” A resident who said she had been struck in a marked crosswalk urged the boards to adopt the plan so the work could proceed. Other commenters, including members of the steering committee, thanked staff for the outreach and said the plan helped identify corridors and intersections requiring attention.

Council and commission members also discussed next steps: staff said the plan is intended to be used both as a resource when reconstruction or utility work creates opportunities to add safety countermeasures and as the basis for future implementation grant applications. Schilling noted that the plan identifies 10 corridors and 12 intersections for more detailed analysis and potential grant-ready projects, and that an appended “story map” summarizes public engagement and site-specific concerns.

Motion and votes: On the town side, a motion to adopt the Safe Streets for All comprehensive safety action plan was made and seconded; the council voted in favor and the motion passed unanimously. The county commission made the same motion, seconded by Commissioner Gardner (second named in the record), and also carried unanimously.

The plan does not prescribe detailed engineering designs (for example, specific curb-radius dimensions) but points to a design standards manual and FHWA resources where technical specifications are found. Staff emphasized this is intended as a guide to prioritize projects and seek funds; implementing recommended countermeasures will require future project-level design, coordination with WYDOT on state highways, and additional funding commitments.

The boards directed staff to use the plan as a guide for finding implementation opportunities and pursuing grant funding. The adoption formalizes a multiagency product that staff said was developed with substantial public engagement and technical input and will be used to inform future reconstruction, maintenance and development review decisions.

Ending: Officials said they expect to return with implementation steps, funding strategies and project-level designs as opportunities for capital work arise. The joint vote clears the way for the town and county to pursue federal implementation funding and to incorporate the plan’s recommendations into future project planning.