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Erie Planning Commission recommends Safety Action Plan to council, citing SS4A implementation opportunity
Summary
Commissioners voted to recommend the final draft of the Erie Safety Action Plan to city council; consultants said the plan is supported by a $200,000 SS4A planning grant and could position Erie for implementation funding due June 26.
The Erie Planning Commission voted May 20 to adopt and recommend the city’s final draft Safety Action Plan to City Council, staff and the plan’s consultant said, clearing the way for a June 4 council presentation and a June 26 application deadline for federal implementation funding.
Jeff Reidner, a consultant with Kittleson and Associates, summarized the plan and the implementation steps. He told commissioners the plan was developed with a year of data analysis and public engagement, highlighted a $200,000 planning grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, and set an aspirational Vision Zero goal to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries with a target year of 2035.
Reidner said the plan identifies three recommendation categories: specific locations (spot improvements), systemic safety improvements (types of facilities and intersection treatments), and non‑infrastructure actions (education, enforcement and policy changes). He told the commission staff and the consultant identified several high‑priority corridors and intersections, and that PennDOT’s 2023 vulnerable road users study helped confirm locations to prioritize.
Reidner emphasized implementation readiness: the plan’s appendix includes planning-level cost estimates, recommended funding sources, lead agencies, phasing and a suggested priority timeline. He told the commission the presence of existing nonfederal funding commitments for projects such as improvements on State Street could be used as the required local match for a federal SS4A implementation grant, “meaning there would be no additional outlay on the part of the city,” he said.
Commission discussion was brief; commissioners asked no substantive questions after the presentation. A motion to adopt the Safety Action Plan and recommend it to City Council passed on a voice vote.
The consultant also addressed the Twelfth Street reimagine project’s relationship to the Safety Action Plan, saying many pedestrian and intersection recommendations in the Twelfth Street plan are consistent with the safety plan’s findings, though the consultant said narrowing the street corridor more broadly could be infeasible in places because of current traffic levels and anticipated land uses.
City staff said the plan will be presented to council for adoption on June 4 and reiterated the June 26 deadline for SS4A implementation grant applications.
