Athens council adopts Vision 0 traffic‑safety goals after broad public input

Athens City Council adopted a resolution formalizing the city’s traffic‑safety goals, including a long‑term commitment to Vision 0 (eventual zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries) and an interim performance objective of a 10% per‑year reduction in fatalities and serious injuries measured by a five‑year rolling average compared with a 2019–2023 baseline.

The measure, Resolution O, passed on a 4–0 roll call. Aaron Curry of Sain Associates, the consultant chosen to lead the project, told the council the safety‑plan process began in 2023 after a successful Federal Highway Administration Safe Streets for All grant application. “We had over 1,400 responses,” Curry said, noting that number is “huge” compared with similar cities and that the project team used crash reports and other data to identify priority corridors. He said a 30‑day public comment window drew more than 70 responses, about 60% of which the team had already addressed in the draft and roughly 3% of which led to revisions to the plan.

Council members said the volume of community feedback showed strong local engagement. Mayor Marks and other council members thanked staff and consultants for the outreach and analysis. Chair (presiding officer) said the next steps are implementation and pursuing grant funding to pay for prioritized safety countermeasures identified in the plan.

The resolution sets measurable goals and directs staff to incorporate the plan’s priorities into future work and funding requests. Council passed the resolution unanimously; staff stressed implementation will proceed in phases and depend on available grant and capital funding.

The council adopted the plan during its regular meeting following the presentation. Officials signaled they will return to council with implementation steps and funding requests as project‑level designs and grants are pursued.