Georgetown staff present CAMPO SS4A safety plan, ask council to adopt Vision Zero statement

City transportation staff and CAMPO consultants briefed the City of Georgetown Council on the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) regional Safe System for All (SS4A) planning grant and asked the council to adopt a Vision Zero statement at the council’s next meeting.

The presentation, led by Louis (city staff) with a contribution from Nick Samuel of Campbell, summarized the SS4A planning effort, the regionwide goal-setting and the public outreach now under way. Louis said the SS4A planning grant is a USDOT program intended to help regions prepare safety action plans that make them eligible for later implementation funding. “About a year and a half ago, CAMPO received a USDOT SS4A grant for planning,” Louis said, adding that the grant produced county-level chapters including one for Williamson County.

Why it matters: staff said a completed regional safety action plan will help local jurisdictions apply for larger SS4A implementation grants that have funded intersection and corridor safety projects elsewhere in Texas. The staff presentation cited the statewide Road to Zero goal referenced by TxDOT and noted CAMPO’s approach: set regional and county goals, analyze crash data to map a high‑injury network, and identify countermeasures and candidate corridors.

What staff recommended: Georgetown staff presented a drafted Vision Zero statement for council consideration, reading: “The City of Georgetown supports the goal of Vision 0 by implementing improved infrastructure and policies that foster a safer and sustainable future for all road users. The city will lead proactive engineering, planning, monitoring, education and enforcement. Alongside our community and partners, Georgetown aims to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries for all roadway users.” Lou (city staff) said staff intends to ask the council to adopt that statement at the next council meeting and to explore collaboration with Williamson County on an SS4A implementation application to compete for federal funds.

Analysis and public outreach: presenters showed maps of the high‑injury network in Williamson County — highlighting corridors and intersections such as I‑35, Williams Drive and parts of University 29 and areas in Georgetown — and a preliminary list of corridors for potential improvements (examples shown: Austin Avenue, Williams Drive, Shell Road and portions of University 29). The outreach period referenced in the presentation runs through March and includes an online open house (camporsap.com) and two pop‑up events per county; staff said the public engagement effort is being coordinated with the CAMPO 2050 long‑range plan outreach.

Examples of countermeasures mentioned included speed management, access management, improved intersection treatments, wider shoulders, pedestrian facilities and shared‑use paths. Presenters noted the plan draws on FHWA‑recognized countermeasures and that individual projects will require more detailed study to identify the precise treatments.

Next steps and questions from council: staff asked whether council supported adopting the Vision Zero statement and whether council had questions about the analysis or next steps. Council questions focused on funding: one councilmember asked whether the $2.3–$2.4 million amount discussed was for the CAMPO study across five counties (staff clarified the study funding is for the CAMPO effort and will prepare jurisdictions to compete for larger implementation grants in the $6–10 million range nationally). Staff said study funds cover planning and that implementation funding would be pursued separately.