After a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant award from the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a Traffic Safety Action Plan (TSAP) in 2023, Bi-State Regional Commission has been working with a Steering Committee of officials from the Quad Cities area in Iowa and Illinois, as well as Kewanee, Illinois, and Muscatine, Iowa. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a TSAP is a "powerful tool to prioritize traffic safety improvements and justify investment decisions." The goal is simple: to ensure people can reach their destinations safely.
The TSAP is being developed through a consultant-led process, with collaboration between the Steering Committee, transportation planning staff from the Quad Cities, and city staff from Muscatine and Kewanee. The Quad Cities Transportation Technical Committee will also be actively involved in overseeing the plan’s development.
In the last decade, more than 2,500 crashes per year have occurred on average in the Quad Cities, Iowa/Illinois, Kewanee and Muscatine. Of these crashes, there is an average of 24 fatalities per year and 150 major/incapacitating injuries per year. These are individuals who will not be with their families or part of our communities as a result to fatal crashes. The program goal supports the premise that deaths and serious injuries are unacceptable. Humans make mistakes and are vulnerable. Traffic safety is a shared responsibility and safety is a proactive action.
Public Involvement
The study team created an interactive online Traffic Safety Map to highlight roadway safety concerns in the Quad Cities, Kewanee, and Muscatine. The Steering Committee and consultant team are using these submissions, along with state crash data, to assess and analyze potential safety and infrastructure improvements. The interactive map can be found here: https://trafficsafetyactionplan.com/.
Focus Group Stakeholder Meetings
To further facilitate engagement of stakeholders, three focus group meetings were held in mid-November to help clarify plan goals and objectives, and discuss potential solutions to identified crash patterns. Collision history data is being shared with community officials to further the discussion on strategies to reduce crashes and severity of crashes. A Traffic Safety Summit is set for January 29th to review the federal Safe Systems Approach to crash reduction, and set goals and implementation strategies/priorities as actionable outcomes toward Vision Zero.
Next Steps
The TSAP is expected to be completed by Spring 2025. Future opportunities for public input will be available throughout the development process.
For more information, please visit the https://qrco.de/BSRC-Traffic-Safety-Planning.
