Town and County adopt Safe Streets for All safety action plan to guide roadway safety projects

Teton County and the Town of Jackson on June 2 adopted a jointly prepared Safe Streets for All Comprehensive Safety Action Plan intended to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on local and state roadways.

The plan, supported by a $600,000 federal Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant, maps a local high‑injury network, identifies 10 corridors and 12 intersections for more detailed analysis, and recommends a mix of physical countermeasures and policy changes to improve safety and multimodal mobility. "The primary aim [of the plan] is preventing roadway deaths and serious injuries," said Brian Schilling, pathways coordinator for the county, during the presentation.

The plan was adopted by the town council after a motion by Councilwoman Munster and a second by Councilwoman Speer; the town vote was unanimous. The county commission adopted the same plan in a separate motion, moved by Commissioner Gardner and seconded by Commissioner Carmen; that vote was unanimous as well. Both bodies discussed next steps for using the document as a guide for project selection, grant applications and coordination with WYDOT and other partners.

The action plan is a policy‑level, data‑driven document rather than a detailed capital improvement program. It includes a countywide crash analysis that produced a high‑injury network concentrated on higher‑speed state highways, a locally tailored mobility framework that identifies strategic flow corridors, and an equity scan that flags areas of relative need within the county. The plan also references a companion updated community streets plan and a transportation engineering design standards manual that would contain the site‑specific design details not included in the action plan itself.

Public commenters and board members praised the plan’s engagement process and urged quick follow‑through on implementation. "Fully supporting the Safe Streets for All Safety action plan and hope you all support it today," said Sam Petrie of Friends of Pathways. Several residents and steering committee members described personal safety concerns and local near‑miss incidents; one commenter recounted being struck while crossing Broadway and Millward and urged the boards to move forward with safety fixes.

Several public and elected participants also flagged gaps and asked how the plan would address village and county needs beyond Jackson proper. Tim Young, a Wilson resident who served on the steering committee, called the plan "a big disappointment" for county villages and urged supplemental planning funds to extend the same level of analysis to places such as Hoback, Alta and other communities not covered at the same depth. Staff said the grant scope focused a deeper analysis on the town core and that extending the same level of study to all villages was a recommended next step in the policies and process section of the plan.

Board members and staff also discussed topics the plan intentionally left broad: e‑bikes (the plan recommends more education but deferred specific regulation), and the limits of the SS4A document (it is not a 10‑year CIP and does not include engineering design details for each location). Staff emphasized that the plan is intended as a resource to make projects eligible for future implementation funding and to inform design decisions when reconstruction or utility work creates opportunities to implement countermeasures.

With adoption complete, staff said they will use the plan when pursuing implementation grants and when coordinating with WYDOT, developers and future capital projects. The plan’s public engagement materials — including an online story map — will remain available for residents to review the recommended corridors and countermeasures.

Votes at a glance: Town of Jackson — Motion to adopt the Safe Streets for All Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, mover: Councilwoman Munster, second: Councilwoman Speer; outcome: adopted unanimously. Teton County Commission — Same motion, mover: Commissioner Gardner, second: Commissioner Carmen; outcome: adopted unanimously.

Next steps noted at the meeting included pursuing implementation funding, coordinating with WYDOT on state highway locations in the high‑injury network, and returning to elected officials with follow‑up recommendations or requests for supplemental planning funds for village‑level analysis.