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Twin Cities
Brandt Williams
Minneapolis

Minneapolis may force drivers to slow down on city streets for safety

Crossing Park Ave.
Pedestrians cross Park Avenue South at East 27th Street in Minneapolis in September 2012.
Jeffrey Thompson | MPR News 2012

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Drivers in Minneapolis may have to slow their roll if a new traffic safety plan gets the go-ahead.

Under the proposed Vision Zero initiative, started under former Mayor Betsy Hodges, the city will reduce speed limits. The goal is to reach zero traffic deaths and severe injuries by 2027.

An average of 11 people per year have died in traffic accidents on Minneapolis streets over the last decade, said Vision Zero coordinator Ethan Fawley.

“I just want to note those are lives,” said Fawley. “They are people. They are families forever impacted.”

Fawley presented data to members of the city council Tuesday showing that lower speeds reduce traffic fatalities.

"Higher traffic speeds make it harder for someone to stop — so increases the likelihood of crashes, and ... increases the likelihood that a crash will be deadly," he said.

City staff identified speeding — along with running red lights, unsafe turns, driving under the influence and while distracted — as the most common threats to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. Fawley also said the city will focus safety measures on “high-injury streets,” or routes which carry 34 percent of traffic but with more than 70 percent of severe and fatal crashes over the last 10 years.

The efforts will include re-striping to reduce the number of lanes of some streets and adding plastic bollards — which look like cylindrical traffic cones — to intersections so vehicles will turn more slowly.

And the city may seek the state Legislature’s approval to deploy cameras to enforce traffic laws to cut down on “officer interaction.”

The city has scheduled an open house meeting and an online feedback session on the plan beginning next month.