In 2022 and 2023, a steering committee and key departments and staff created the Vision Zero Action Plan, a road map to reach the goal. The project team leveraged crash data on where and why life-altering crashes happen in Knoxville, and asked residents to prioritize solutions, with the end goal of developing targeted strategies to save lives.
Gentry says he’s excited to apply neighborhood traffic-calming principles and methodology to higher-speed streets and intersections that require more intense interventions.
“Traffic calming is all about slowing vehicles down, and that’s the main goal of Vision Zero,” says Gentry. “If we can slow vehicles down, we can reduce the risk of serious injuries and deaths.
“And if mistakes are made, they’re not deadly,” he adds, echoing the Safe System Approach to street design recommended by the Vision Zero Plan.
Vision Zero strategies to reduce vehicular, bicycling and pedestrian fatalities are being funded by $8 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program and an additional $2 million in local dollars. The investments will be made in infrastructure projects to improve safety at five of the city’s most dangerous locations: North Broadway, East Woodland Avenue and three intersections on East Magnolia Avenue.