SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego has spent $178.9 million on road safety projects over the last five years, but the city's Vision Zero initiative continues to fall short of its goal to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries.
The city's approach to road safety is facing renewed scrutiny after two children were killed on San Diego roads in the last two weeks, prompting residents and council members to question the effectiveness of current safety measures.
"The city has a process for determining which streets, which intersections they fix. But clearly that isn't working," said Aria Grossman with Circulate San Diego, an organization dedicated to improving the city's transportation system.
Vision Zero, launched by city leaders in 2015, aimed to achieve zero traffic deaths and serious injuries through strategic infrastructure improvements. However, city data from the last five years shows no consistent decline in pedestrian deaths or driver fatalities from collisions, despite the significant financial investment.
"Change isn't happening, and as we saw this past week, children continue to die on our streets," Grossman said.
The city has funded various projects, including sidewalk repairs, bike facilities, and traffic signal improvements.
"There has been a long history of not prioritizing the kind of road safety improvements that need to be prioritized," Grossman said.
The city was unable to comment on the traffic death statistics but directed inquiries to their complex list of requirements for adding crosswalks or stop signs. Grossman argues city council should adopt more flexible policies, particularly when neighbors raise safety concerns.
"These are the standards we need to look at and think - should we really be going about making our roads safer this way," Grossman said.
Advocates are calling for policy changes that would allow the city to respond more quickly to community safety concerns.
"It is a change from how they generally prioritize funding, but we're trying to advocate - change is not a bad thing," Grossman said.
Parents and advocates remain hopeful the city will modify its approach to prevent additional deaths on city roads.
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