In what city officials say is a vital step in achieving the crash reduction goals outlined in Cupertino’s Vision Zero Action Plan, the transportation division recently reduced speed limits along stretches of five streets.
The speed limit reductions are along McClellan, Bubb and Prospect roads and Mary and Blaney avenues (see accompanying graphic for details). The old speed limit signs have been replaced with new ones that display the reduced limits.
The goal of Cupertino’s Vision Zero plan, adopted by the city council in July, is to eliminate fatalities and severe injuries on the city’s roadways by 2040 with programs that prioritize safety over other transportation goals. The plan emphasizes smarter street designs that account for human error, as well as data-driven enforcement and community engagement.
Cupertino is among more than 40 communities across the United States that have adopted a Vision Zero plan, part of an international effort begun in 1997 to eliminate all fatal and serious injury traffic crashes.
Among the five key principles of Vison Zero is that speed is recognized as the fundamental factor in crash severity. To that end, Cupertino’s plan is designed to “prioritize people first over motor vehicular speed.”
The plan emphasizes routes to, and streets surrounding, Cupertino schools, with the goal of partnering with schools, nonprofit organizations and community groups to develop projects and collaborations that support Vision Zero.
While reducing speed limits is among the plan’s near-term traffic safety improvements, other action items “will take sustained commitment to traffic safety principles to bring about cultural, infrastructural and policy changes that will be fundamental in realizing Vision Zero,” according to city documents.
For more information, visit https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/public-works/transportation-mobility/vision-zero-action-plan.
