Austin Transportation improving high-crash intersections across the city

(Photo Credit: Austin Transportation Department)

CBS Austin
by Ricardo Lewis
Monday, September 26th 2022

AUSTIN, Texas — Deadly car crashes continue to impact Austin's roadways. The number of deadly crashes is going down since 2021, but the number of people dying remains a crisis, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In an effort to make roadways safer, the Austin Transportation Department has started making safety improvements at busy intersections.

“We’ve seen a pretty disturbing and tragic trend at the national level," said Lewis Leff, Austin Transportation Safety Officer.

More than 40,000 people died on U.S. roadways in 2021, according to the NHTSA. That number includes 115 people in Austin, a record high for the city.

“A lot of it is on frontage roads, a lot of it are on these major arterials that have large volumes of vehicles, a lot of people walking and biking," Leff said.

Those crashes are happening in areas like 7th and 8th Streets near I-35 and Cameron Road and Ferguson Lane. Leff said the department studied data to prioritize locations for potential safety treatments based on historical crash frequency.

“7th Street, in particular, is where we’ve seen folks getting off of the freeway, that exit is pretty short and so coming off the highway at a high speed trying to merge with oncoming vehicles northbound," he said.

The City's Vision Zero campaign which started in 2015 is working to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries. Austin City Council allocated $3.8 million in the 2016 City budget for safety improvements at five of Austin’s top crash intersections. In the same year, Austin voters also approved $15 million for Vision Zero intersection safety projects as part of the 2016 Mobility Bond. Voters approved more funding for safety investments in Bond referendums in 2018 and 2020.

“Sometimes it’s about adding a crosswalk where it doesn’t exist currently, sometimes it’s about changing the crosswalk style to something that’s a little more visible and has a higher visibility for drivers to notice that that’s space for people walking," Leff said.

The City has seen a 31 percent decrease in severe crashes where these improvements have been made. Leff believes the city has to change its transportation network. Vision Zero data shows 70 people have died in 2022 and 388 people were left with serious injuries from more than 9,000 crashes.

“When we see that pattern over and over time, we see that there’s a correctable issue that’s there," Leff said.

The NHTSA estimated that during the first half of 2022 deadly crashes were up. An estimated 20,175 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes which is an increase of about 0.5% as compared to 20,070 fatalities, NHTSA projected for the first half of 2021. In the second quarter from April to June, deadly crashes have gone down for the first time since 2020.

"Traffic deaths appear to be declining for the first time since 2020, but they are still at high levels that call for urgent and sustained action. These deaths are preventable, not inevitable, and we should act accordingly," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Safety is our guiding mission at the Department of Transportation, and we will redouble our efforts to reduce the tragic number of deaths on our nation’s roads."

"Although it is heartening to see a projected decline in roadway deaths in recent months, the number of people dying on roads in this country remains a crisis," said Ann Carlson, NHTSA’s Acting Administrator.

“Do you feel confident that the City can hopefully one day get that zero?” CBS Austin asked.

“It’s ambitious to think that we could do that, but it’s possible," Leff said.

Austin Transportation leaders said over the years it's going to take everyone coming together to change the tragic numbers the City has been seeing as far as deaths and serious injuries. There have been more than a dozen safety projects completed with more on the way.