Indianapolis task force unveils draft Vision Zero action plan; public comment opens July 1

At a meeting of the Indianapolis Vision Zero Task Force, members presented a draft action plan designed to eliminate roadway fatalities and serious injuries by 2035 and announced a public comment period beginning July 1, task force members said.

The plan lays out roughly 25 strategies and about 75 action items informed by crash data, a high‑injury/high‑risk roadway analysis and more than 600 public responses gathered through 19 in‑person pop‑ups and an online survey, according to consultants and outreach partners who briefed the task force.

Maria Cantrell, a consultant with Burgess & Niple, said the draft identifies a “high injury network” covering about 5% of city streets — roughly 200 miles — that accounts for about 43% of fatal and incapacitating crashes. The consultants also produced a proactive “high risk” network that factors speed limits, number of lanes, presence of sidewalks or bike lanes and other indicators of future crash risk, Cantrell said.

Health by Design led community outreach. Mark McAlevey, chief executive officer of Health by Design and the Indiana Public Health Association, told the task force its team held 19 pop‑up events across town, engaged 286 people in person, attracted about 339 online survey responses and collected more than 1,400 mapped comments from roughly 490 respondents who used the public input map.

The public responses showed walking and pedestrian crossing concerns ranked high, Cantrell said, with respondents prioritizing pedestrian infrastructure, traffic calming, intersection improvements, bike lanes and enforcement when asked to choose where limited funds should go. Cantrell also noted that roughly two‑thirds of survey respondents had access to a personal vehicle and about one‑third did not, a factor the plan uses to identify “transportation‑impacted neighborhoods.”

The draft frames its strategies using a Safe System approach and groups actions under headings such as Safe Roads, Safe Speeds, Safe People, Safe Vehicles and Post‑Crash Care. Examples highlighted at the meeting included quick‑build pilot projects targeted to the high‑injury and high‑risk networks, prioritizing safety elements in capital project selection, a citywide speed management program using Federal Highway best practices, and adjustments to traffic court deferral programs tied to higher‑speed citations.

Cantrell summarized some enforcement proposals, saying the plan would seek to “require driver safety programs for citations in excess of 25 or 20 miles an hour” and to limit deferrals for speeding citations greater than 15 miles per hour above the limit. Those items are listed among multiple action steps the consultants proposed for the task force and municipal partners to consider.

Task force and city officials stressed the plan is a starting point and that formal adoption remains pending. Councilor John Barth, who chairs the task force, said the ordinance calls for adoption of an action plan by July 1 but that the group will delay formal adoption to allow time for public review and feedback. Leandre Chance, the city’s newly hired Vision Zero administrator, clarified that the proposal is already posted online and that the public comment form will go live on July 1.

Funding and prioritization were a recurring theme. City Controller Abby Hansen said the strategies vary in scale and complexity and that the office will need to weigh Vision Zero priorities against other budget demands while building the 2026 budget. Barth noted that the city previously secured roughly $500,000 to begin implementing recommendations from a Fatal Crash Review Team, and he said similar multi‑year advocacy and budgeting will be required to implement the Vision Zero plan.

Officials described next steps: the draft action matrix and interactive maps are available on the city’s Vision Zero web landing page, the public comment form opens July 1, and the task force plans at least one additional meeting later this year to consider formal adoption after the public comment period closes.