Cherokee County presents Safe Streets and Roads for All plan, seeks Vision Zero adoption

Cherokee County officials and their consultant on March 4 presented a completed Safe Streets and Roads for All safety action plan and asked the Board of Commissioners to adopt the plan and a countywide "Vision 0" policy committing the county to reduced traffic deaths and serious injuries.

The plan, prepared with Pond and Company under a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, inventories crash risk countywide, ranks about 15–17 high-priority corridors and intersections, and groups recommended infrastructure projects into short-, medium- and long-term programs. County Community Development Director Brantley Day told commissioners the county and four cities secured a $450,000 USDOT grant (about 80% federal funding) with a 20% local match funded by the county and participating cities according to SPLOST shares.

The study found 87 roadway fatalities in Cherokee County from 2018 through 2022, a figure Day highlighted as driving the county's focus on implementation. "We have been talking about it a long time," Day said in introducing the presentation. Pond and Company consultant Kat Onor said the plan uses a safe-systems approach, which treats deaths and serious injuries as unacceptable and emphasizes design changes,…