Canton hears Safe Streets presentation; Vision Zero resolution to return for adoption

Kat Onor, a planner with Pond & Company, outlined Cherokee County—s Safe Streets for All safety action plan at Canton City Council—s Feb. 20 meeting, asking the council to adopt a Vision Zero resolution that would commit the city to pursuing "zero traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040."

Onor said the county-led plan, funded through the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program created by the bipartisan infrastructure law, uses a "safe systems" approach that pairs engineering projects with policy, organizational practice changes and community education to reduce crashes. "The leadership commitment that we are asking for you all today ... is that Cherokee County will achieve 0 traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040," Onor said.

The plan aggregates two years of technical analysis and community engagement, Onor said, identifying speeding, poor visibility, curvy roads and lack of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure as recurring concerns. She pointed to a proposed Riverstone Parkway corridor package as one of the county—s higher-priority and higher-cost projects, noting a total corridor estimate shown in the draft of about $4,000,000 but adding that many safety improvements can be phased and that some low-cost signal-operation adjustments can achieve notable crash reductions.

City staff and council members asked how the plan interacts with the city—s transportation planning and state-owned roadways. City Manager Michael Ingram noted the plan is intended to inform local priorities but does not itself obligate local funding. He told the council many projects lie on county or state-owned streets and would require coordination with those agencies. "Some of these streets ... are not city-owned streets. They are either county and or, or state," Ingram said.

Onor and county staff emphasized that adopting a Vision Zero resolution is a policy commitment to integrate safety into decision-making and to make the city eligible for implementation grant programs; a resolution does not appropriate funds. The county will submit the finalized plan to the Federal Highway Administration after the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners adopts it and plans to maintain a steering committee for ongoing work.

The council did not vote on a resolution on Feb. 20; staff said a Vision Zero resolution will appear on a future council agenda for formal action. Onor directed attendees to a full draft plan posted online and invited public comments on the draft.