Indianapolis Vision Zero task force unveils new action plan to improve street safety

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis is looking to make city streets safer.

The Vision Zero Task Force unveiled its new action plan that spells out how city leaders plan to make changes.

The City of Indianapolis’s Vision Zero Task Force unveiled a lofty new strategy that aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries by 2035.

“I think it’s very significant and I hear about it from my constituents all the time and that’s the reason why we have this initiative,” said John Barth, a Democratic city councilor and chair of the task force. “What people told us when we interacted with them in the community was their single most important concern was infrastructure to support pedestrians.”

The new action plan introduced at Wednesday’s committee meeting has five pillars:

• SAFE ROADS: Redesigning dangerous streets and intersections
• SAFE PEOPLE: Promoting education and enforcement
• SAFE SPEEDS: Reducing and managing speed limits
• SAFE VEHICLES: Upgrading driving standards
• POST-CRASH CARE: Improving emergency responses

The plan follows the “Vision Zero” philosophy—a global initiative that treats traffic deaths as preventable, not inevitable.

“I think in modern-day the country and America, we should be able to be on our roads safely and be able to walk the street and go about society without the fear, ‘Is this a safe road for me and my family?’” said Leandre Level Jr., DPW Vision Zero administrator.

The ultimate goal? Zero traffic deaths.

And while that might sound ambitious, city officials say the alternative is unacceptable.

“This is not a singular issue. It’s not a DPW issue, it’s not an IMPD issue, it’s an issue that goes across all different city departments and even broader than that,” Barth said. “It really involves the public and everybody who is interested in this issue, and we need to make sure that we pull it all together using this action plan to execute on our strategy.”

The plan will open up for public comment starting on July 1. The committee hopes to formally adopt the plan sometime this fall.