City of Erie Comprehensive Safety Action Plan is Now Available!
The Erie Safety Action Plan is now available for review. The safety action includes a vision and goals, safety analysis, community engagement process, and the identification of strategies and projects to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes in the City of Erie.
Why is Erie Creating a Safety Action Plan?
Traffic safety is important for Erie residents. From 2019 – 2023, there was an average of 121 crashes in the city. In the past 5 years, there have been almost 200 fatal or serious injury crashes in the city, which cause long-term impacts to families and communities across Erie.
Through funding from a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) planning grant, Erie developed a Safety Action Plan to help identify transportation-focused safety needs and improvements across the City of Erie. The plan takes a Safe System Approach, which acknowledges that deaths and serious injury crashes are unacceptable, humans are vulnerable and make mistakes, and that transportation networks must be proactive about providing multiple layers of protections for all users, whether they travel by foot, by car, by bike, via transit, or with the help of a mobility device.
The Safety Action Plan includes four main components:
- Establishing a vision for transportation safety.
- Thoroughly analyzing crashes, including where and why they happened.
- Engaging with the Erie community for context, perspective, and feedback.
- Developing projects and strategies for implementation.
Planning Process – community input was critical!
Community and stakeholder input played a key role in shaping the Erie Safety Action Plan. Engagement activities were carried out throughout the planning process and were essential in identifying areas of concern and developing strategies that reflect the needs and priorities of the community. The engagement process took place in two phases.
Phase 1: Identify Issues and Opportunities
September 25, 2024 – First Public Open House at Blasco Memorial Library.
September 9 to November 1, 2024 – Online Survey to seek input on lived experiences with traffic safety in Erie (570 total responses).
Online StoryMap was established in June 2024 and was available through March, 2025.
Attended Various Community Meetings and Events – McKinley Elementary School, West Bayfront Neighborhood Watch, Our West Bayfront Neighborhood Watch, Glenwood Heights Neighborhood Watch, West Side Saints Neighborhood Watch, Second Baptist Church, Syrian Community Center, Downtown Fall Fest, Community Law Day, Boys & Girls Club, and more.
Phase 2: Seek Feedback on Draft Recommendations
January 22, 2025 – Second Public Open House at Erie Center for Arts and Technology.
February 2 – February 14, 2025 – Online Survey to seek input on the proposed recommendations (63 responses).
Attended Various Community Meetings and Events.
A diverse set of engagement activities was offered both in-person and online, including digital surveys, an interactive StoryMap, public meetings, and sessions with neighborhood groups.
Click here to learn more about the planning process: Erie Safety Action Plan.
What’s Next?
City Council is scheduled to vote on adopting the Safety Action Plan on June 18. Once adopted, the city will be eligible to apply for the SS4A Implementation Grant. Applications for this round of funding are due June 26, and the city plans to submit an application!
Please send any comments or questions to Jackie Spry, Director of Planning & Neighborhood Resources at (814) 504-0219 or jspry@erie.pa.us