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Boca Raton wins $7.4M for bike/ped and mobility upgrades; staff outlines Vision Zero plan
Summary
Public Works Director Zach Beer updated council on mobility priorities, saying Boca Raton secured about $5.8 million in USDOT grants plus ~$1.6 million local match for pedestrian/bicycle and signal improvements; staff described a data‑driven Vision Zero approach and a targeted high‑injury crash network.
Public Works and Engineering Director Zach Beer told the City Council on Monday that Boca Raton has positioned itself to use federal funds and a data‑driven Vision Zero approach to reduce serious and fatal crashes.
Beer said the city secured $5.8 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation and expects about $1.6 million in local matching funds, for a combined program of roughly $7.4 million focused on pedestrian and bicycle safety, signal upgrades and corridor improvements. The funding builds on past grants and is intended to support a multi‑year program of quick‑build pedestrian enhancements, school‑zone upgrades, signal/Opticom improvements and a new mobility plan to feed into the county transportation plan.
"That starts with the Vision Zero action plan," Beer said, describing the city's strategy of identifying a high‑injury crash network and prioritizing interventions where they will save lives. Beer told council that Boca Raton averaged about seven crashes per day over the past six years and roughly four serious‑injury or fatal crashes per month, and that staff identified 27 corridor segments and 63 intersections that make up the high‑injury network (about 7% of lane miles).
Beer outlined potential countermeasures including speed management, pedestrian and bicycle protections, site‑specific treatments and coordinated signal timing (what he called "coordinated signal timing" rather than the umbrella term "AI"). He said corridor implementations have yielded 15–20% efficiency gains in travel time where the software and sensors have been deployed and that staff would roll out improvements corridor by corridor, including Yamato, Glades and Palmetto.
Councilmembers praised staff for grant work and cross‑agency collaboration and asked technical questions about how city signals can respond when rail gates are down (Beer said city signals can act to clear queues after preemption but currently do not fully integrate with rail agencies' gate systems). Councilmember Drucker noted the city's role in regional MPO work and asked staff to bring a proclamation for Bike Month and confirm submittals to the MPO for federal funding.
Next steps: staff will present the Vision Zero action plan and related items on the consent agenda and continue working with county partners to program projects into the county transportation plan.
