The city’s efforts to make roads safer are paying off.
Milwaukee’s efforts to improve road safety through changes in the physical design of roads is paying off, with city data showing a reduction of 27 percent in speeding at projects completed in 2024. According to a piece by Jeramey Jannene in Urban Milwaukee, projects completed in 2023 led to a 28 percent reduction in “life-changing injury crashes” and reduced crashes by 15 percent and injury crashes by 7 percent.
The effort was spearheaded by Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who declared reckless driving a public safety crisis in 2021. Thanks to the interventions, “Certain streets have shown great speed reductions, either with raised crosswalks or street reconfigurations. A speed hump on W. Windlake Avenue cut the percentage of motorists exceeding the speed limit from 30% to 2%. A two-way protected bike lane and other calming measures on Van Buren Street cut speeding from 20% to 3%.” The city has plans to complete 60 traffic calming projects by the end of 2025.
FULL STORY: New Speed Data Shows Dramatic Impact of Milwaukee’s Traffic Calming Efforts
Study: Roundabouts are Primarily in Wealthier Neighborhoods
A North Carolina study sheds light on inequities in road safety interventions.
Philadelphia Launches ‘Speed Slots’ Traffic Calming Pilot
The project focuses on a 1.4-mile stretch of Lincoln Drive where cars frequently drive above the posted speed limit.
Milwaukee Announces 60 Traffic Calming Projects for 2025
The city has successfully reduced traffic deaths and aims to eliminate them completely within the next decade.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association