Gainesville City Commissioners work to reduce pedestrian deaths

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Gainesville City Commissioners are allocating three-million dollars to road improvements over the next two years.

This is part of Vision Zero, the commission’s initiative to eliminate pedestrian deaths through engineering, enforcement and design of roads.

“What we want to do is show through our actions that we take that very seriously. We are trying to get to the point where no other family has to grieve the loss of a loved one because of a traffic death” said Mayor Lauren Poe.

At the meeting City Commissioners discussed traffic safety efforts including reducing the speed limit city wide and adding a crosswalk on University Avenue.

In May, four temporary speed tables were built on West University Avenue following the deaths of UF students Maggie Paxton and Sophia Lambert.

This year they are being replaced with permanent raised crosswalks and many UF students support the change.

“The speed bumps really help, they make you slow down and make you realize what’s in front of you. Then just ‘I almost hit this kid’. So I believe it is really important and I’m glad they are putting in something permanent” said student, Camila Guerrero.

With the help of Vision Zero, commissioners will also research and discuss the impacts of changing the speed limit for all city roads to 30mph, as well as neighborhoods to 20mph.

“The biggest factor whether someone survives a crash with a car is speed. So, the lower those speeds are, the more likely they are to live. And we also think that if people know the city wide speed limit is 30, you will see speed limits reduce everywhere” said Poe.

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