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Leland council adopts Safe Streets and Roads for All safety action plan
Summary
The Town of Leland adopted Resolution R-25-016 approving a three-year Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan after staff and consultants outlined near-term “quick build” projects, a high-injury network and programmatic strategies to reduce fatalities and severe injuries on town roads.
The Town of Leland Council voted to adopt Resolution R-25-016, approving the Leland Safe Streets and Roads for All Safety Action Plan, after a presentation by town planning staff and the plan’s consultant team.
The plan, funded through the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) planning grant, sets a three-year implementation orientation and lists prioritized, near-term projects intended to reduce roadway fatalities and severe injuries. Council adopted the resolution by voice vote; the motion carried unanimously.
Planning staff said the SS4A planning grant supported the creation of the Safety Action Plan and that adoption positions the town to apply for later implementation grants. Consultant Andrew Ooms of Kittelson and Associates described the plan’s emphasis on a Safe Systems approach that focuses limited resources on crashes that cause death and serious, life-changing injury. Ooms said the plan’s data window used official crash data through 2023 and noted that 2024 saw three fatal crashes inside the town boundary (one crash with two fatalities) and three severe injuries. He also summarized a broader tally discussed during the project of seven fatal or severe-injury crashes inside the town boundary and three additional crashes “very nearby” the boundary; the plan prioritizes locations with concentrated severe crashes.
Ooms said the plan identifies a high-injury network and prioritizes projects into tiers. Tier 1 recommendations are “maintenance-level” and quick-build projects intended to be low-cost and fast to deploy; Tier 2 projects are larger capital investments that will require more funding and longer timelines. Examples highlighted in the presentation included speed management strategies, increased enforcement and programmatic changes, pedestrian crossings and corridor-specific countermeasures on high-speed arterials.
Staff and consultant presentations said the plan’s high-injury network includes segments of U.S. 17, Mill Ridge Road and Fayetteville Road and noted that many of the town’s most severe crashes occur on commercial corridors and higher-speed roadways. The plan recommends near-term actions such as no-right-turn-on-red signs on US 17 and other quick-build countermeasures, plus targeted maintenance, project prioritization and edits to the town’s development code to support safer streets.
Councilmembers and focus-group participants discussed the town’s limited jurisdiction over some corridors (notably parts of U.S. 17 under NCDOT) and the need to coordinate with the Wilmington metropolitan planning organization (WMPO) and NCDOT. Staff said NCDOT and the WMPO participated on the project focus group, that the WMPO has initiated its own SS4A work, and that the town will share the adopted plan with partner agencies.
The plan was presented to the Planning Board in February, which voted unanimously to recommend approval; staff likewise recommended adoption to council.
The resolution formally adopted the plan and affirmed the Planning Board’s statement that the plan is consistent with the town’s adopted plans and is in the public interest. The town will use the adopted plan to pursue implementation funding and to guide near-term safety work and interagency coordination.
