So far this year, six pedestrians and one bicyclist have been killed in crashes in the city of Wilmington.
Wilmington Planning and Development Director Linda Painter says that's far too many.
"Vision Zero is the idea that it doesn't have to be this way, that instead of looking at traffic deaths being inevitable, we approach it as traffic deaths being preventable," she said.
She says there are low-cost measures, things as simple as painting bike lanes on pavement, that can save lives. She asked the City Council for more staff to fine-tune the plan, and suggested using the Motor Vehicle License Fee to fund the new staff positions.
But that seems likely to spark controversy at City Council’s regular meeting. Council member Luke Waddell said he doesn’t want to rush into it. He questioned City Manager Becky Hawk on why the city can’t already implement these low-cost measures: "So we cannot paint lines on roads with the staff that we currently have?"
Hawk responded: "The issue isn't that we can't paint the lines on roads, it's that we need, we need the work to know where to paint the lines on the road."
Waddell said, "I'd be happy to send an email some lines that could get painted on road after this. Thanks.”
Council is scheduled to consider three resolutions related to this issue at its regular meeting: One adopts Vision Zero as a policy, another funds the two proposed positions, and the third would fund the construction of speed humps at seven locations around the city for a cost of about half a million dollars.
Those humps would be installed on seven local traffic streets in Wilmington that have persistent speeding violations:
- Rogersville Road
- Tanbridge Road
- Charter Drive
- Carl Street
- Jeb Stuart Drive
- Burnett Blvd
- Wallington Rd / Lancaster Rd
Wilmington City Council will have its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the Skyline Center, 929 N. Front St.
