Fremont adopts Safe Streets action plan, sets goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2036

The Fremont City Council unanimously adopted resolution 2026-121 on May 12, formally accepting the Safe Streets for Fremont safety action plan and committing to a goal of zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries by 2036.

Anna Allen, the city engineer, introduced the plan and said staff received a 2024 planning grant to develop it with consultant JEO. “We are asking for your council to adopt the action plan this evening and, commit to a goal of 0 serious injuries and 0 fatalities by the year 2036,” Allen said. JEO staff walked the council through five years of crash data (2019–2023) that the consultants used to identify priority locations and a menu of safety countermeasures. The consultants reported roughly 2,800 crashes in that period, 45 serious-injury crashes and five fatalities; they also identified 51 vulnerable-road-user crashes and flagged top corridors including L Street, 23rd Street, Military Avenue, Lincoln Avenue and Broad Street.

The plan presents a safe-systems approach and a range of countermeasures (crosswalk visibility improvements, median refuge islands, rapid flashing beacons and signal upgrades) and suggests citywide strategies such as a sidewalk-gap program and traffic-safety education. Council members asked about prioritization and whether the new work will divert attention from previously approved projects. “My concern when I look at this is, we have items that still need to be taken care of on our roads… What other priorities that we already voted on are we going to have set aside to do this?” Councilman Horner said. Anna Allen and the consultants said the action plan is meant to inform future projects and be incorporated into existing project planning rather than supplant already-approved work.

The council voted 7–0 to adopt the plan, clearing the way for the city to pursue supplemental and implementation grants to advance projects identified in the plan.